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On 11/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
'Flat-Out Sabotage' Already Underway as Mnuchin Tries to Put $455 Billion
in
Covid Funds Out of Biden Team's Reach
"Burning it down on the way out the door. There is no reasonable
justification for this."
byJake Johnson, staff writer
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin departs from the office of Senate
Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2020 in
Washington, D.C. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
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.
"As the economy backslides amid skyrocketing Covid-19 cases, Secretary
Mnuchin is engaged in economic sabotage, and trying to tie the Biden
administration's hands."
-Sen. Ron Wyden
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."
While Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, insisted he is attempting to
ensure the funds are put to better use, Democratic members of Congress and
other observers immediately accused the treasury secretary of a potentially
unlawful ploy to hamstring the Biden administration's coronavirus response
before the president-elect takes office. According to one analyst,
Mnuchin's
actions are an "explicit" violation of the CARES Act.
"This is Treasury's latest ham-handed effort to undermine the Biden
administration. The good news is that it's illegal and can be reversed next
year," tweeted Bharat Ramamurti, a member of the congressional commission
established to oversee the use of coronavirus relief money. "For its part,
the Fed should not go along with this attempted sabotage and should retain
the CARES Act funds it already has."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee,
denounced as "shameful" Mnuchin's effort to pull back the congressional
relief funds and place them out of the Biden administration's reach.
"As the economy backslides amid skyrocketing Covid-19 cases, Secretary
Mnuchin is engaged in economic sabotage, and trying to tie the Biden
administration's hands," Wyden said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.
Echoing Wyden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted late Tuesday that
"Secretary Mnuchin's Covid-19 response has been a corrupt and incompetent
failure."
"He needs to stop sabotaging the Biden administration from cleaning up his
mess and helping states, cities, and small businesses," said Warren.
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