The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) has appointed William Kirk as chair of the group’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC).
Kirk has served as the inspector general at the Small Business Administration (SBA) since early January of this year, and before that, he was acting chief of staff in the Education Department’s Office of General Counsel. He will take over as the PRAC chair effective March 1 and will remain as inspector general at SBA.
As the new PRAC chair, he is succeeding Michael Horowitz, who is inspector general at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Horowitz has led PRAC since April 2020.
“I am honored to serve as Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee,” Kirk said in a statement released by CIGIE.
Kirk said he looks forward to “working closely with the PRAC to leverage technology to ensure integrity in pandemic relief programs, so they are used effectively, transparently, and in the best interests of the American people.”
“Serving as Chairman of the PRAC is both an honor and a responsibility,” said Kirk in a separate statement issued by SBA. “As PRAC Chairman, I am committed to ensuring rigorous oversight, transparency, and accountability across the federal government so that relief funds are protected and the public’s trust is upheld.”
Congress created the PRAC as a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020 to help combat COVID-19 fraud.