Recent taxpayer-backed efforts to battle the novel Coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans, has instead been spent on purchasing more military supplies. According to the Washington Post, “The $1 billion fund Congress gave the Pentagon in March to build up the country’s supplies of medical equipment has instead been mostly funneled to defense contractors and used to make things such as jet engine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms.”

The original intent of Congress by providing the relief money to the Pentagon was to help them “‘…Prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.’” But a few weeks later, the Defense Department decided to spend the money differently.

According to the Washington Post article, “Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in Senate testimony last week that states desperately need $6 billion to distribute vaccines to Americans early next year. Many U.S. hospitals still face a severe shortage of N95 masks. These are the types of problems that the money was originally intended to address.”

The Pentagon reportedly gave defense contractors hundreds of millions of dollars from the fund, mostly for projects that have little to do with the coronavirus response. The Washington Post states, “$183 million was given to firms, such as Rolls-Royce and ArcelorMittal, to maintain the shipbuilding industry; tens of millions of dollars for satellite, drone, and space surveillance technology; $80 million to a Kansas aircraft parts business suffering from…the global slowdown in air travel; and $2 million for a domestic manufacturer of Army dress uniform fabric.”

The Washington Post also reports, “Military spending was already nearing record highs when the Pentagon’s virus fund arrived…Meanwhile, U.S. health officials say there are still significant funding gaps in the country’s pandemic response…Hundreds of millions of dollars also flowed to several large, established companies, such as GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, which received two awards worth $75 million in June. A subsidiary of Rolls-Royce received $22 million to upgrade a Mississippi plant.” 

Two House Democrats called for an investigation and public hearings on the matter, questioning the legality of how the money was used and calling it “‘unacceptable.’” This report comes as the country’s coronavirus death toll nears 200,000–which, according to Vanity Fair, is “…A looming milestone in the still raging public health crisis.”