A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has found that governmentwide contract obligations for COVID-19 response has reached $17.8 billion as of mid-June.
GAO said in the report published Wednesday the contracts cover services and resources such as ventilators, respirators and personal protective equipment. Federal agencies also recorded $9.4 billion in noncompetitive contract obligations as part of emergency authorization procedures, the report states.
The watchdog noted that the top agency spenders are the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense (DoD), Homeland Security (DHS) and Veterans Affairs (VA). HHS spent the highest amount out of the four, allocating for almost $9 million for COVID-19 response.
GAO assessed contracting data from the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation system as part of the study.
