In a striking monologue during a congressional hearing, Romney expressed anger that he spent months negotiating with his colleagues to craft a $10 billion funding package, when the Biden administration earlier this month announced that it had repurposed existing funding to pay for $10 billion in vaccines and therapeutics purchases in the absence of congressional action.

Romney called the administration’s claims earlier this year that it was unable to buy more therapeutics, vaccines, and antiviral treatments without more funding “patently false,” and said he “wouldn’t have worked as hard” to secure a bipartisan deal if he had known that other funds could be repurposed. The claims were made in a letter sent to Romney from Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on March 7, which was first published by STAT in May.

“I hope that there’s an appreciation that for the administration to say they could not purchase these things, and then after several months, divert some funds and then purchase them is unacceptable, and makes our ability to work together and have confidence in what we’re being told very much shaken to the core,” Romney said.