GOP pols demand Pentagon probe into more than $50M spent on Chinese pandemic research labs

Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mike Gallagher are demanding the Defense Department’s inspector general probe more than $50 million in defense grants to Chinese pandemic research institutions — including those based in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 emerged in 2019. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed last month, included an amendment from the lawmakers that directed the IG’s office to review Pentagon funding of risky research on pathogens of pandemic potential or “chimeric versions” of viruses in foreign nations over the past decade. The investigation, in addition to gain-of-function virus research conducted in China, will focus on U.S. tax dollars going toward Chinese military technology. The Department of Defense has paid at least $51.6 million to Chinese organizations, including $6 million that went toward purchasing technical support for military “deployment and distribution command” software despite the known security risks of using Chinese technology