The United States House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, formerly the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, was a bipartisan

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

select subcommittee that was created to provide

congressional oversight Congressional oversight is oversight by the United States Congress over the executive branch, including the numerous U.S. federal agencies. Congressional oversight includes the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, a ...

of the

Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...

's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

. The Select Subcommittee was established under H.Res.935 during the

116th Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...

. Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

announced on April 2, 2020, that the committee would oversee the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus/rescue legislation (the

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th United States Congress, 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by Presiden ...

) enacted by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. The Act created a $500 billion bailout fund for U.S. industry and is the largest economic emergency legislation in U.S. history.Billy House & Erik Wasson
Pelosi Announces Bipartisan House Committee on Coronavirus
Bloomberg (April 2, 2020).Clare Foran, Haley Byrd & Manu Raju
Pelosi announces House committee on coronavirus crisis to exercise oversight of pandemic response
CNN (April 2, 2020). It was established as a special investigatory subcommittee under the

House Oversight Committee The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...

. Pelosi stated in her announcement that the committee would be chaired by

House Majority Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

Jim Clyburn James Enos Clyburn (born July 21, 1940) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . First elected in 1992, Clyburn is in his 17th term, representing a congressional district that includes most of the majority-black precinc ...

, aided by a staff of experts, and it would have

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

power and a $2,000,000 budget. Pelosi charged the committee with preventing waste,

profiteering Profiteering is a pejorative term for the act of making a profit by methods considered unethical. Overview Business owners may be accused of profiteering when they raise prices during an emergency ( especially a war). The term is also applied to ...

, and

price gouging Price gouging is the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair by some. This commonly applies to price increases of basic necessities after natural disaste ...

, and seeking to ensure that responses to the pandemic are based on science. She described the committee as a mechanism for an after-action review. The committee's mandate is analogous to that of the

Truman Committee The Truman Committee, formally known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, was a United States Congressional investigative body, headed by Senator Harry S. Truman. The bipartisan special committee was for ...

in the 1940s, which investigated waste and fraud in defense spending. On April 23, 2020, the House officially voted 212–182 along party lines, to approve the committee's creation. After Republicans gained a majority of the House of Representatives at the start of the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January ...

, the House voted to continue the committee, now dubbed Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, was approved as part of the House's rules package on January 9, 2023, by a 220–213 vote. The purpose of the committee was changed to investigate the origins of COVID-19,

gain-of-function research Gain-of-function research (GoF research or GoFR) is medical research that genetically alters an organism in a way that may enhance the biological functions of gene products. This may include an altered pathogenesis, transmissibility, or host ran ...

, coronavirus-related government spending, and

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

and

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

mandates. On January 24, 2023, Speaker

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

announced that the subcommittee would be chaired by Representative

Brad Wenstrup Brad Robert Wenstrup (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician, U.S. Army Reserve officer, and doctor of podiatric medicine, who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2025. A Republican, he upset incumbent U.S. representati ...

. The committee released its final report on December 2, 2024. In the 520-page report, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic concludes that the coronavirus “most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” citing factors like biological characteristics of the virus and illnesses among researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in fall 2019. The subcommittee was dissolved by Chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer at the end of the 118th Congress. The report also concludes that social distancing and mask mandates were not based on hard science and “prolonged lockdowns caused immeasurable harm to not only the American economy, but also to the mental and physical health of Americans, with a particularly negative effect on younger citizens.” (Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/02/health/house-covid-subcommittee-report/index.html).

Members, 118th Congress

Historical membership rosters

117th Congress

References

External links

* *
U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, “After Action Review of the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Lessons Learned and a Path Forward”, December 4, 2024
{{authority control House Oversight Coronavirus Crisis House Oversight Coronavirus Crisis Coronavirus Crisis Oversight Coronavirus Crisis 2020 establishments in Washington, D.C. Parliamentary committees related to the COVID-19 pandemic