In a stunning revelation that should make every red-blooded American take notice, the Biden administration, in its final days, funneled $28 million of taxpayer money to a questionable enterprise with alleged ties to former Biden staffers. This apparent misuse of federal funds was uncovered by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who highlighted the awarding of the funds to a dubious vaccine company registered to a mere post office box in Maryland.
Senator Ernst, in her letter to the new HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., did not mince words, describing the situation as “fishy.” She took to social media to express her concerns, stating, “A vaccine company registered to a PO Box — and run by two former Biden staffers — got $28 million in the final months of the Biden admin, and that seems fishy.”
“I’ve asked Sec. Kennedy to get the American people answers and end the practice of government slush funds!”
— Sen. Joni Ernst
Senator’s Twitter Post
The operation, known as Vaccine Company, Inc., seems to be little more than a shell, lacking even the basics of an office or lab. Yet, it was inexplicably granted $28.2 million for research on flaviviruses like Zika and dengue, despite having no prior federal contracts.
Records show the company’s address is just a PO Box at a post office in Bethesda, Maryland, raising questions about its legitimacy. Sen. Ernst demands to know how a company with no real presence secured such a grant, especially when led by a recent Biden political appointee.
Sonya Bernstein, once a Biden administration COVID-response worker, became the company’s executive before it received the funds. Notably, the company has had a revolving door of leadership, with Bernstein being at least the third executive in a short span.
Documents uncovered by Sen. Ernst’s office reveal that the company had previously lost its Maryland registration in 2023 for not filing necessary paperwork, only to be reinstated just before receiving the massive federal grant.
According to the timeline established in the letter:
- 2022: Vaccine Company, Inc. submitted multiple filings for Foreign Corporation Qualification with Maryland, using a post office address. Jay Markowitz was listed as the “President or Vice President.”
- 2023: In a Maryland filing, Sonya Bernstein is listed as the leader, coinciding with her name appearing on records as a former Biden staffer. A California filing from January lists John Merkels as CEO and Juha Lauren as CFO, both associated with the Maryland address.
- 2024: A filing in California shows Sonya Bernstein as CFO, with the Maryland PO Box as the mailing address. It remains unclear why she was listed as “President or Vice President” in Maryland the previous year.
So far, only $2 million of the grant has been spent. This led Sen. Ernst to call for an urgent investigation and potential recovery of funds before they vanish into the vast void of government mismanagement.
ARPA-H, the funding body for this grant, was a Biden-era initiative under HHS, receiving over $4 billion despite limited oversight. Its former director, Renee Wegrzyn, was dismissed by the Trump administration in February 2025.
Senator Ernst concluded her letter with an urgent request for transparency from Secretary Kennedy, demanding all pertinent documents and the identities of officials who approved the suspicious award. She requested this information by March 17, 2025.
