Yet HHS problems have festered for years and through other public health crises including the H1N1 pandemic and Zika virus outbreak, GAO said.

The president entered office with the promise to end the pandemic, but with the swell of the Omicron variant, new Covid-19 cases have surged to new highs while hospitalizations increased twofold at the end of the year, GAO said. The GAO assessment also lands as President Joe Biden’s approval ratings are being weighed down by the pandemic response: Just over 30 percent of voters highly approved of his first-year performance in a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll 37 percent rated it an “F.” The Prevent Pandemics Act would also make the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director subject to Senate confirmation for the first time and mandate that the agency release four-year strategy reports. Senate health committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and ranking Republican Richard Burr (R-N.C.) proposed legislation Tuesday that, among other things, would require HHS secretaries to appoint a committee to advise on messaging during public health crises and would require a bipartisan-appointed 9/11-style commission to assess the Covid-19 response. The GAO report comes amid congressional calls to assess the department’s pandemic response and establish new guardrails for future emergencies. “We’re in a much stronger position than we were a year ago.” “We share GAO’s focus and urgency in battling this once-in-a-generation pandemic and desire to ensure we never again face a pandemic of this magnitude,” an HHS spokesperson said. GAO also criticized the department for not working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to shore up medical supply chains and said the administration only just began a comprehensive strategy for widespread public Covid-19 testing it recommended in January 2021. The deficiencies include failures to outline roles and responsibilities for other entities involved in a response difficulties collecting and analyzing data and problems clearly communicating health messages to the public.

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