Millions of dollars Congress intended to fund vaccine research and emergency preparedness for public health threats like Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19 were "misappropriated" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a decade, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on Wednesday.

In a report to President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress, OSC identified the misuse as originating from the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at HHS. OSC said the funds were originally appropriated by Congress for use by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

BARDA is the HHS office responsible for the procurement and development of medical countermeasures against pandemic influenzas such as COVID-19 and emerging diseases. It also combats chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) bioterrorism threats.

OSC said until fiscal year 2010, ASPR misused funds appropriated for BARDA and failed to accurately report this mismanagement to Congress. It presented evidence ASPR used BARDA's research funds to pay for expenses unrelated to BARDA's mission.

These unauthorized expenses included paying the salaries of personnel who did not work for BARDA, removing office furniture, administrative expenses and paying for news subscriptions.

The scale of the misappropriation of BARDA's funds was so vast and so frequent, BARDA became known within HHS as the "Bank of BARDA." OSC, however, did not provide an estimate of the amount misappropriated by ASPR.

OSC said "ASPR is unable to demonstrate that the[se] BARDA funds were used for their appropriated purposes."

"I am deeply concerned about ASPR's apparent misuse of millions of dollars in funding meant for public health emergencies like the one our country is currently facing with the COVID-19 pandemic," said Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner.

"Equally concerning is how widespread and well-known this practice appeared to be for nearly a decade, even garnering the nickname 'Bank of BARDA.' I urge Congress and HHS to take immediate actions to ensure funding for public health emergencies can no longer be used as a slush-fund for unrelated expenses." 

BARDA burst onto the national scene when its director, Dr. Rick Bright, was fired by the Trump administration for resisting pressure to endorse hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, as a COVID-19 treatment. Ex-president Donald Trump was the most vocal champion of hydroxychloroquine, which the National Institutes of Health in November 2020 declared has no efficacy against COVID-19.