WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi, moving aggressively to scrutinise the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, said Thursday (April 2) that she was creating a special bipartisan committee to oversee all aspects of the government response, including how it distributes more than US$2 trillion (S$2.86 trillion) in emergency aid.

The announcement, which drew immediate objections from the top House Republican, came as leaders were struggling to determine how Congress could perform its most basic functions - both legislating and acting as a check on a president who has consistently stonewalled attempts at oversight - when lawmakers were scattered around the country with the Capitol shuttered.

The creation of a select committee reflects a particular sense of urgency among Democrats to keep a close watch on how President Donald Trump enforces the more than US$2 trillion stimulus package that he signed into law last week.

The measure created vast programmes, including a US$500 billion corporate bailout programme and a US$350 billion small-business loan initiative, and provided US$150 million for states and cities coping with the coronavirus.

Democrats insisted on attaching strict oversight measures to the bailout money, but Mr Trump - who was impeached last year on charges of abuse of power and obstructing congressional attempts to investigate - has suggested he has the authority to decide whether an inspector general appointed to oversee it has to share information with Congress.

"Where there is money, there is often frequently mischief," Ms Pelosi told reporters Thursday during a call, a replacement of her weekly news conference, another Capitol Hill tradition altered by social distancing.

Ms Pelosi said the panel would have subpoena power, meaning it could demand testimony and documents from the Trump administration. That raised the prospect of a new round of constitutional showdowns between Mr Trump and the Democrat-led House over information about how the administration addressed the coronavirus threat and its actions in the weeks since the disease began rampaging across the country.

Already on Thursday, Democrats were questioning the enforcement of a US$100 billion worker relief package enacted last month after the Labour Department issued guidance that gave wide latitude for businesses with 50 or fewer employees to decline to offer the paid leave benefit included in the law.

Congress worked with remarkable speed and bipartisanship to pass the stimulus package, as the Senate remained in session - even as some of its members fell ill - and more than 200 House members returned to Washington to vote. But leaders of both parties concede that the road ahead will be even more challenging with much of the country on lockdown and lawmakers gone for the foreseeable future.

Representative Steny Hoyer, the majority leader, said in an interview Thursday that lawmakers are "just in the very first stages of figuring out" how they would operate in the coming days.

In a mark of how rapidly the debate is shifting over how to convene Congress amid a pandemic, Mr Hoyer said he had dropped his opposition to allowing the House to vote remotely, something he previously dismissed as setting "a bad precedent."

"Circumstances have made it clear," Mr Hoyer said, that remote voting must be considered. "9/11 raised the spectre of members not being able to get back together, but it did not create the reality of that," he added. "This has created the reality of members being unable to come together."

But in the Senate, Mr Roy Blunt ruled out the possibility. Mr Blunt, who as chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration oversees the chamber's operations, said there were lines the Senate would not, as of now, contemplate crossing.

"To make final decisions, to mark up a Bill, to vote on a Bill on the floor, I think you will see a traditional approach for a long time," he said. "But I think we will be much more flexible in terms of how we gather information."

Beyond the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers have a lot on their plates. They must pass annual spending Bills to keep the government open, as well as their annual military policy Bill. They must conduct routine oversight of the Trump administration's programmes and policies, including the stimulus programmes, immigration, education and healthcare.

Mr Hoyer acknowledged that there were a string of unanswered questions, including whether committees would meet by teleconference and how the public - accustomed to watching deliberations on C-SPAN - would be able to observe lawmakers conducting the nation's business when most of the work was being done on private conference calls, as is now the case.

Oversight of regular government functions might prove more difficult, particularly when much of lawmakers' time will be consumed by the response to the pandemic.

Ms Pelosi said the new committee would be led by one of her top deputies, Representative James Clyburn, the majority whip, and would have an expert staff to search for waste, fraud and abuse. The speaker also lent her support to an independent, nonpartisan after-action investigation like the commission that investigated the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, but said that would have to come later.

But Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, called the special committee "redundant," noting that the stimulus law already created a congressionally appointed oversight board.

He also objected to the selection of Mr Clyburn, who created a stir last month after it was leaked that he privately told colleagues that the government aid package offered Democrats "a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision."

As more federal employees work from home and other nonessential operations lag, just getting documentation - much less testimony - may become difficult for a whole range of congressional inquiries.

The release by the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday of Federal Emergency Management Agency documents showing a shortage of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies suggested that, at least for now, such records continue to flow.