Debt limit deal claws back unspent COVID relief money

Around $27 billion in unspent COVID relief money will be clawed back as part of a debt limit deal between Republican and White House negotiators.

The deal: The unspent funds, which were intended for federal agencies to combat the pandemic, will now be redistributed by Congress during this year’s budget process to other parts of the federal budget.
* The federal COVID emergency officially ended earlier this month, and President Biden expressed openness to rescinding unspent funds.

Notable impact: The clawed back funds include a significant portion of what remained in the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund for emergency preparedness and response.
* However, the administration was able to preserve funds for developing a next-generation of vaccines and for research into long COVID.

By the numbers: A total of $4.6 trillion was spent on pandemic response and recovery, with $4.2 trillion already spent as of January 31.
* At least eight federal agencies will see money pulled back, with some programs seeing partial rescissions and others being “largely concluded” or having ~~”no immediate demands.”~~

View original article on NPR

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