Such declarations allow the HHS secretary to take a variety of steps, including using money appropriated for the Public Health Emergency Fund. In a red herring, at the hearing Ocasio-Cortez focused on the fact that there was only $57,000 in the Public Health Emergency Fund. “Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials determined that other authorities could be used, rather than public health emergency authorities,” the report said. “HHS also provided evidence that the Public Health Emergency Fund currently contains approximately $57,000.” It was last used more than a quarter-century ago. Trump has no need to transfer billions of dollars for the opioid emergency because Congress already has appropriated billions of dollars.

Source: Washington Post March 12, 2019 06:56 UTC