MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH DIVERTED FROM BARDA

A federal watchdog has found that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which drew national attention last year when the Trump administration fired its director, has been used for the past 10 years as a “slush fund” to cover expenses unrelated to its core mission of fighting health threats like Ebola, Zika and the coronavirus, Shery Gay Stolberg reported for the New York Times.

The 223-page report, issued Wednesday (Thursday, January 28, 2021, in Manila) by the Office of Special Counsel, found that the Department of Health and Human Services diverted millions of taxpayer dollars intended for BARDA to finance vaccine research and pandemic preparedness into other government activities, and failed to inform Congress — a potential violation of federal law.

Among the unrelated activities were the removal of office furniture, administrative expenses, news subscriptions, legal services and the salaries of other department employees. The practice of diverting funds was so common, investigators found, that employees had a name for it: The “Bank of BARDA.”

The report focuses on the actions of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response (ASPR), the health department official who oversees BARDA and is responsible for its budget. The assistant secretary is responsible for leading the federal response to pandemic threats like the novel coronavirus. Its most recent occupant was Dr. Robert Kadlec; President Biden has not named a successor.

“I am deeply concerned about ASPR’s apparent misuse of millions of dollars in funding meant for public health emergencies like the one our country is currently facing with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Henry J. Kerner, the special counsel, wrote bin a letter to Mr. Biden, using the acronym for the assistant secretary for preparedness and response. “Equally concerning,” Mr. Kerner added, “is how widespread and well-known this practice appeared to be for nearly a decade."

The report does not specifically say how much money was misappropriated. But roughly $25 million was taken from BARDA programs and provided to the assistant secretary’s office as recently as the 2019 fiscal year, the office found. And from the 2007 to 2016 fiscal years, the assistant secretary failed to account for $517.8 million in administrative expenditures, according to the report.

It also suggests a senator, Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina, who wrote the legislation that created BARDA and is considered its champion in Congress, became involved in internal funding disputes. The whistle-blower told investigators that “restrictive wording” was added to the 2016 appropriations bill at the behest of Mr. Burr and his “pet project” — an apparent reference to BARDA. A spokesman for the senator had no comment.

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