Rep. Jim Clyburn to continue leading Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis in 117th Congress

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this week that the Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis will continue into the new year and the 117th Congress, still under the leadership of Chairman and Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC).

The subcommittee has been running since April 23, 2020. In the months since, it has conducted more than 30 investigations into the Trump Administration and its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to more than 19 million cases and 342,000 deaths in the United States. To date, the committee has held 15 public hearings and briefings and pursued thousands of documents, which have led to nine staff reports.

“As Speaker, it is a privilege to once again appoint Whip Jim Clyburn as Chairman of the Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis,” Pelosi said. “As Chairman, he has been masterful as he has led the Committee’s bipartisan, effective work to ensure oversight and accountability of our nation’s pandemic response on behalf of the American people. His track record of success has helped ensure that the relief funds allocated by Congress are spent wisely and efficiently while exposing the deadly and tragic failures of the Trump Administration’s anti-science, anti-governance response to the crisis.”

Much of the subcommittee’s investigations have focused on how the Trump Administration has failed to halt the spread of the coronavirus and its role in the economic harm that has resulted. It has also identified steps for containing the virus and preventing further deaths and stagnation.

“As the virus continues to spread, vaccine distribution proceeds, and implementation of the new relief package begins, this work remains critically important to save American lives and livelihoods,” Clyburn said. “With a new administration soon to take office, I am hopeful that the Select Subcommittee will work on a bipartisan basis to help provide the leadership and support Americans need and deserve to get us beyond this pandemic.”

So far, the subcommittee’s investigations have uncovered more than $4 billion in potential fraud in small business programs. They have also helped halt wasteful loans, followed up on delays to stimulus check distribution, and overseen the return of more than $100 million in taxpayer funds to the U.S. Treasury. The subcommittee has also accused senior administration officials of interfering with the work of career scientists and pushing for a widely debunked herd immunity strategy that involves encouraging the spread of the virus.