Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Names ED & Unveils New Website
Section: Washington Update




This week, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, or PRAC, announced Robert A. Westbrooks as its executive director. Mr. Westbrooks is a certified public accountant, certified internal auditor, a certified information systems auditor, attorney, and former federal criminal investigator. PRAC also launched its website, pandemic.oversight.gov, and its Twitter account, @COVID Oversight.
 
Created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, PRAC is charged with preventing and detecting fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement, and is further charged with working to mitigate major risks that cut across program and agency boundaries. PRAC activities will be similar to those carried out by the Recovery Board during the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including maintaining a user-friendly, public-facing website to foster greater accountability and transparency in the use of covered funds and the Coronavirus response.
 
Michael E. Horowitz, chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, or CIGIE, is currently serving as the acting chairman of PRAC until such time as a permanent chair can be seated.
 
PRAC will be comprised of 21 inspectors general once the newly created special inspector general for pandemic recovery is confirmed. There are currently 20 inspectors generals, nine of which are designated specifically by statute.
 
PRAC’s new website, required by Section 15010 of the CARES Act, is designed to provide transparency concerning pandemic spending and will be regularly updated as oversight work is announced and completed by the PRAC, individual OIGs, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The website will include detailed information on federal government awards that expend Coronavirus covered funds, including data elements required under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). The U.S. office of Management and Budget can prescribe aggregate reporting on awards below $50,000.
 
PRAC is required to coordinate its oversight activities with the comptroller general of the United States and state auditors. The committee is to terminate by September 30, 2025.