Ernst Gives Latest ‘Squeal Award’ to HHS for Failing to Bar Federal Funding of Wuhan Lab, as Recommended by Watchdog

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus make a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Feb. 14 may be a day for romantic gifts, but that’s not what Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) presented to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and the department he leads for failing to bar China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) from receiving any more federal funds.

The Iowa Republican gave Becerra and HHS her latest “Squeal Award“—a monthly recognition that singles out a Washington expense, program, or concept that has proven to be wasteful and must be cut—after they failed to act on the recommendation of the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) that the Chinese lab where the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is thought to have originated be permanently removed from eligibility for federal funds.