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WASHINGTON — Gov. Greg Abbott’s use of COVID-19 reduction {dollars} to help his border safety mission has come underneath scrutiny in Washington this week as questions develop about whether or not it’s the right use of the federal funds.
The U.S. Treasury Division’s inspector common opened an inquiry into the spending on Tuesday, the Washington Put up reported. The motion got here a day after a bunch of Texas Democrats within the U.S. Home known as on U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to analyze.
These steps adopted a Put up evaluation of cash meant to fight the results of the pandemic, exhibiting that Texas “leaders rerouted public well being and security funds to their border operations, whereas counting on federal pandemic funds to switch a few of the cash.”
These border operations included Operation Lone Star, a state border safety program that Abbott launched in March 2021 to take care of elevated border crossings. The initiative entails the deployment of the Texas Division of Public Security and the Texas Navy Division to the border. Abbott has used state sources to patrol the border, construct border obstacles and arrest migrants for trespassing on non-public land after which flip them over to immigration authorities.
The state has spent round $4 billion on the operations; the Put up has reported that round $1 billion in coronavirus support was used.
The cash got here from the Coronavirus Assist, Aid and Financial Safety Act, higher often known as the CARES Act, which had a key provision to help the medical response to the pandemic.
“In train of that accountability … we’re at present conducting a assessment of Texas’s makes use of of [Coronavirus Relief Fund] monies,” Richard Okay. Delmar, the U.S. Treasury Division’s deputy inspector common, mentioned to the Washington Put up.
He additionally indicated he had not dominated out a “recoupment of the cash.”
Abbott’s spokesperson asserted that the spending was correct.
“Right here in Texas, we’ve labored with the legislature to allocate federal funds in a fashion that adheres to federal steerage,” Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze mentioned in a press release to The Texas Tribune. “Between legislative classes, within the occasion of a catastrophe, there are mechanisms to re-allocate state {dollars} if mandatory to answer the catastrophe—and we’ve had to make use of $4 billion of state {dollars} for Operation Lone Star to do the federal authorities’s job.”
“Reasonably than attacking Texas for responding to their border catastrophe that they’ve created and escalated within the final 12 months, President Biden and Democrats in Congress have to cease taking part in politics and do their jobs to safe our border,” she added.
Texas Democratic U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio and Veronica Escobar of El Paso spearheaded the letter to Yellen asking for her division to analyze the matter.
“It’s negligent and irresponsible for Governor [Abbott] to direct further funding to Operation Lone Star, particularly if the funding in query was meant to assist Texans rebuild from the pandemic,” the Texas Democrats wrote.
U.S. Reps. Colin Allred of Dallas, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Marc Veasey of Fort Value and Sylvia R. Garcia, Al Inexperienced, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston joined in signing the letter.
“As you proceed your oversight of the Coronavirus State Fiscal Restoration Funds, we urge you to make sure all states are utilizing these essential funds for the explanations they had been meant for use,” they continued. “Governor Abbott should not be allowed to make use of federal coronavirus reduction funds to additional his political theater on the expense of Texas households.”
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