Follow the Money: Lessons Learned from the Federal COVID-19 Response

How can we improve transparency in federal spending data? Congress has allocated more than $4.6 trillion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic—a monumental sum that’s no doubt changed the course of the pandemic over the past three years. Yet, before we can even begin to evaluate the impact of this spending, we must first understand how and where the money was spent. In the face of great difficulty tracking these dollars past the state level, federal Inspectors General have coordinated in an attempt to establish greater oversight, with implications not only for COVID response, but across other major federal spending areas like infrastructure, education, and more.

Join CEG as we learn from the firsthand experience of practitioners navigating the institutional challenges related to transparency in Federal spending data, and working towards a more effective system. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end of the session.

Event participants include:

• Michael Horowitz | Inspector General, US Department of Justice

• Joe Ferguson | Former Inspector General, City of Chicago

• Aimee Ramirez | Manager of Policy and Advocacy, Chicago Community Trust

• Sean Moulton | Senior Policy Analyst, Project on Government Oversight

• Liz Hempowicz (Moderator) | Director of Public Policy, Project on Government Oversight

• Sadia Sindhu (Introductory Remarks) | Executive Director, University of Chicago Center for Effective Government

About the Senior Practitioner Fellowship: The CEG Senior Practitioner Fellowship brings together leaders who, during their year long tenure at the Center, will leverage their years of experience and expertise in public service, advocacy, policymaking, and civic engagement to grapple with issues of government and democracy reform at a critical moment: an election year marked by deep distrust and divisions in our politics, government mired in dysfunction and myriad threats to democracy. Learn more here.