One of the best things to come out of the recent debt ceiling deal was that Congress clawed back $27 billion in COVID-19 relief money. Much of that funding, according to the Congressional Budget Office, was intended for health care programs — and it is still sitting unused while Congress moves on to other matters like defense authorization and the August recess.
Only in Washington can $27 billion be secured — and then left to sit once again.
[Matt wants the money spent on obesity and mental-health issues. Those are fine policy areas for focus, but shouldn’t that money get applied to the HHS budget for next year and the appropriation reduced a similar amount as a result? Found money might best be applied to the “obesity” of annual deficits and the accumulating national debt. — Ed]
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