Whitey Ford
11-25-2020, 05:53 PM
LOL
'Flat-Out Sabotage' Already Underway as Mnuchin Tries to Put $455 Billion in Covid Funds Out of Biden Team's Reach
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is under fire for attempting to undermine the incoming Biden administration's response to the Covid-19 pandemic on his way out the door after his department confirmed Tuesday that it intends to place $455 billion in unspent coronavirus relief funds into an account that requires congressional authorization to access.
Bloomberg reported that the funds, which Congress allocated to the Federal Reserve in March for emergency lending programs to assist local governments and struggling businesses, will be put in the Treasury Department's General Fund following Mnuchin's widely condemned decision last week to cut off the relief programs at the end of the year.
Mnuchin requested that the funds be reallocated by the currently divided Congress, and the Fed has agreed to cooperate with the outgoing treasury secretary's move.
According to Bloomberg, "Mnuchin' clawback would make it impossible" for Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden's pick to lead the Treasury Department, to utilize the funds "without lawmakers' blessing."
"The move leaves just under $80 billion available in the Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund, a pot of money that can be used with some discretion by the Treasury chief," Bloomberg noted. "By contrast, the CARES Act funds had specific uses, and weren't available for general government spending purposes."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/25/flat-out-sabotage-already-underway-mnuchin-tries-put-455-billion-covid-funds-out
'Flat-Out Sabotage' Already Underway as Mnuchin Tries to Put $455 Billion in Covid Funds Out of Biden Team's Reach
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is under fire for attempting to undermine the incoming Biden administration's response to the Covid-19 pandemic on his way out the door after his department confirmed Tuesday that it intends to place $455 billion in unspent coronavirus relief funds into an account that requires congressional authorization to access.
Bloomberg reported that the funds, which Congress allocated to the Federal Reserve in March for emergency lending programs to assist local governments and struggling businesses, will be put in the Treasury Department's General Fund following Mnuchin's widely condemned decision last week to cut off the relief programs at the end of the year.
Mnuchin requested that the funds be reallocated by the currently divided Congress, and the Fed has agreed to cooperate with the outgoing treasury secretary's move.
According to Bloomberg, "Mnuchin' clawback would make it impossible" for Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden's pick to lead the Treasury Department, to utilize the funds "without lawmakers' blessing."
"The move leaves just under $80 billion available in the Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund, a pot of money that can be used with some discretion by the Treasury chief," Bloomberg noted. "By contrast, the CARES Act funds had specific uses, and weren't available for general government spending purposes."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/25/flat-out-sabotage-already-underway-mnuchin-tries-put-455-billion-covid-funds-out