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| © Yuri Gripas/Reuters FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R) and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pose for G-20 finance ministers and central banks governors family photo during the IMF/World Bank spring meeting in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo |
By Erica Werner and Jeff Stein, The Washington Post
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak Tuesday at a hearing where senators pressed him to move faster on hundreds of billions in lending to businesses, cities and states and others.
“The CARES Act is the biggest rescue package in the history of Congress and we need to make sure the dollars and program quickly find their mark," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said at the outset of the hearing, which was taking place remotely with senators and witnesses appearing via remote video hookup.
Also testifying along with Mnuchin was Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell.
In his own opening statement, Mnuchin touted his work with Congress “to get relief into the hands of hardworking Americans and businesses as quickly as possible. While these are unprecedented and difficult times, these programs are making a positive impact on people.”
Powell touted the Fed’s role in backstopping hundreds of billions of loans that are supposed to go to businesses large and small and shore up other parts of the economy, according to prepared remarks from his testimony. A report by a Congressional Oversight Commission on Monday found that only a small portion of a $500 billion Treasury fund created by the Cares Act has been committed.
Congress’ $2 trillion Cares Act, passed in late March, mandates quarterly testimony from Powell and Mnuchin to Capitol Hill.
Powell and Mnuchin faced pointed questions from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), top Democrat on the Banking Committee, over who was getting helped by the Treasury fund. Lawmakers of both parties have questioned why the Fed has yet to launch its Main Street Lending Facility, aimed at helping businesses that are too large to qualify for a separate small business program - and why the central bank recently altered the terms of that program to aid companies with up to 15,000 employees, a move some Democrats say mainly benefits struggling oil and gas firms.
“We tried to make sure that the trillions of dollars in spending wouldn’t just go to Wall Street like it always does. We wanted to make sure that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury got this money into workers’ pockets,” Brown said.
“We certainly didn’t want to see it go to oil and gas companies, whose activities pose an existential threat to essential workers and our whole economy.”
“I want to hear how it’s going to be different this time,” Brown said.
Brown also pressed Mnuchin and Powell about the role of essential workers in the economy and the Trump administration’s push to reopen the economy.
“How many workers should give their lives to increase our GDP by half a percent?” Brown asked Mnuchin. “No workers should give their lives to do that and I think your characterization is unfair,” Mnuchin responded.
Crapo questioned Mnuchin and Powell about a municipal lending fund and who can qualify for it. Congress sent $150 billion to cities and states under the Cares Act, but governors and Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for more money. The Treasury and Fed set up a municipal lending facility within the $500 billion Treasury fund, but it has yet to send out any money.
Powell said they were looking at ways to make it work.
The hearing took place amid debate about Congress’ next steps in responding to the virus outbreak. Congress has passed four bipartisan bills totaling nearly $3 trillion in spending. House Democrats last week passed a bill allocating another $3 trillion more, but Senate Republicans and the White House rejected it. Senate Republicans and administration officials say they want to pause and see how the money already approved is working before agreeing to any more. Some have even suggested that no more federal spending will be necessary at all, as the Trump administration makes bullish predictions about economic growth.
Ahead of the hearing, Mnuchin, who has been the Trump administration’s point person in negotiating relief bills, met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), along with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the economic situation and potential next steps. President Trump himself plans to meet with Senate Republicans at their weekly policy lunch on Tuesday.
Read more at The Washington Post
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak Tuesday at a hearing where senators pressed him to move faster on hundreds of billions in lending to businesses, cities and states and others.
“The CARES Act is the biggest rescue package in the history of Congress and we need to make sure the dollars and program quickly find their mark," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said at the outset of the hearing, which was taking place remotely with senators and witnesses appearing via remote video hookup.
Also testifying along with Mnuchin was Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell.
In his own opening statement, Mnuchin touted his work with Congress “to get relief into the hands of hardworking Americans and businesses as quickly as possible. While these are unprecedented and difficult times, these programs are making a positive impact on people.”
Powell touted the Fed’s role in backstopping hundreds of billions of loans that are supposed to go to businesses large and small and shore up other parts of the economy, according to prepared remarks from his testimony. A report by a Congressional Oversight Commission on Monday found that only a small portion of a $500 billion Treasury fund created by the Cares Act has been committed.
Congress’ $2 trillion Cares Act, passed in late March, mandates quarterly testimony from Powell and Mnuchin to Capitol Hill.
Powell and Mnuchin faced pointed questions from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), top Democrat on the Banking Committee, over who was getting helped by the Treasury fund. Lawmakers of both parties have questioned why the Fed has yet to launch its Main Street Lending Facility, aimed at helping businesses that are too large to qualify for a separate small business program - and why the central bank recently altered the terms of that program to aid companies with up to 15,000 employees, a move some Democrats say mainly benefits struggling oil and gas firms.
“We tried to make sure that the trillions of dollars in spending wouldn’t just go to Wall Street like it always does. We wanted to make sure that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury got this money into workers’ pockets,” Brown said.
“We certainly didn’t want to see it go to oil and gas companies, whose activities pose an existential threat to essential workers and our whole economy.”
“I want to hear how it’s going to be different this time,” Brown said.
Brown also pressed Mnuchin and Powell about the role of essential workers in the economy and the Trump administration’s push to reopen the economy.
“How many workers should give their lives to increase our GDP by half a percent?” Brown asked Mnuchin. “No workers should give their lives to do that and I think your characterization is unfair,” Mnuchin responded.
Crapo questioned Mnuchin and Powell about a municipal lending fund and who can qualify for it. Congress sent $150 billion to cities and states under the Cares Act, but governors and Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for more money. The Treasury and Fed set up a municipal lending facility within the $500 billion Treasury fund, but it has yet to send out any money.
Powell said they were looking at ways to make it work.
The hearing took place amid debate about Congress’ next steps in responding to the virus outbreak. Congress has passed four bipartisan bills totaling nearly $3 trillion in spending. House Democrats last week passed a bill allocating another $3 trillion more, but Senate Republicans and the White House rejected it. Senate Republicans and administration officials say they want to pause and see how the money already approved is working before agreeing to any more. Some have even suggested that no more federal spending will be necessary at all, as the Trump administration makes bullish predictions about economic growth.
Ahead of the hearing, Mnuchin, who has been the Trump administration’s point person in negotiating relief bills, met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), along with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the economic situation and potential next steps. President Trump himself plans to meet with Senate Republicans at their weekly policy lunch on Tuesday.
Read more at The Washington Post
