What is the Congressional Oversight Commission (COC)?

The COC is a bipartisan Commission tasked with overseeing how the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) are utilizing specific taxpayer funds to provide economic stability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

How was the COC Established?

The COC was established by Section 4020 of Title IV, Subtitle A of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), (P.L. 116-136). 

What are the COC’s Specific Duties?

The COC is tasked with oversight of the implementation and execution of Subtitle A by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve.  Furthermore, the COC is mandated to submit regular reports specifically addressing the implementation and effectiveness of loans, loan guarantees and investments as well as the transparency of these transactions. 

The COC is responsible for answering two basic questions:

• What are the Treasury and Federal Reserve doing with $500 billion of taxpayer money?
• Who is that money helping?
  
  

Who Serves on the COC?

The COC was established as a bipartisan, five-member panel.  The following four members have been appointed to, and served on the Commission.  A Chairperson has not yet been named.   

• Representative French Hill 
• Senator Pat Toomey (Resigned, January 2023)
• Representative Donna Shalala (Resigned, May 2021)
• Commissioner Bharat Ramamurti (Resigned, December 2020)
  

Commissioner Bharat Ramamurti joined President Biden’s Administration as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and stepped down from his role on the Commission in December of 2020.  

On May 1, 2021, Commissioner Donna Shalala resigned from her position with the Commission. 

On January 3, 2023, Senator Pat Toomey resigned from his position with the Commission.

The Congressional Oversight Commission will cease operations and sundown on June 30, 2023.