Mnuchin: Trump wants virus deal with Democrats.
WASHINGTON >> Pressed by Democrats to quickly negotiate a new coronavirus relief package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the administration remains willing to work on a bipartisan agreement to help small businesses, the unemployed, children and schools. Democratic leaders in Congress are holding it up with hardened positions, he said.
“Let’s move forward on a bipartisan basis on points we can agree upon,” Mnuchin urged at a hearing by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. “The president and I want to move forward.”
Mnuchin made the case that the economy’s recovery has strengthened in recent weeks, citing improved consumer spending, growth in manufacturing and a rebounding housing market. It’s the failure of some states to reopen activity that is holding back the economy, he said.
But Democrats insisted that dire economic conditions persist for many. “Millions of Americans are now facing eviction, debt and hunger,” said the panel’s chairman, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. “As the pandemic drags on, states, cities and businesses are warning that more layoffs may be coming.”
The subcommittee’s Democratic staff, meanwhile, said it has identified lapses pointing to possible fraud and abuse in a signature piece of the administration’s relief effort, the $660 billion-plus small business loan program — including more than $1 billion awarded to businesses that received multiple loans.
The staff investigators said in a report that a lack of government oversight and accountability for the program “may have led to billions of dollars being diverted to fraud, waste and abuse, rather than reaching small businesses truly in need.”
Mnuchin identified additional spending on aid to small businesses as the area where Democrats and Republicans are most likely to agree.
Under questioning from Democrats on the panel, Mnuchin again denied any involvement in the hiring of new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Democrats are looking into how DeJoy was hired as they scrutinize a series of operational changes at the Postal Service that have resulted in widespread mail delays and fears that the agency will not be able to handle an expected surge in mail-in ballots this fall as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats also want to learn more about Mnuchin’s role. The Treasury chief met with members of the Postal Service Board of Governors while the selection of the new postmaster general was underway.
Mnuchin said he knew DeJoy, a former supply chain CEO and a top Republican donor, from the 2016 Trump campaign. But, Mnuchin said, “I was quite surprised when I found out that he was a candidate. Again, I had no involvement in that process whatsoever.”