在国会山的一次有争议的听证会上，参议院民主党人就财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦终止几项通过《关心法案》资助的美联储紧急贷款计划的决定对他进行了质询。
俄亥俄州参议员谢罗德·布朗在开幕词中严厉批评了姆努钦，称这将进一步损害令人震惊的经济。
布朗说:“据我所知，姆努钦部长，你离开这个国家的情况比你找到它时还要糟糕。”。“除了利用你任职的最后几个月为你发誓要为之服务的人工作之外，你似乎在试图在离开时破坏我们的经济。”
民主党人呼吁央行保持对超过4000亿美元未用的《关心法案》资金的控制，为即将上任的拜登政府在2021年重启贷款机制铺平道路。
美联储上个月公开与姆努钦决裂，表明对他的决定感到失望。但与姆努钦一起作证的美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔(Jerome Powell)表示，他将把这笔钱退还给财政部，然后国会可以重新分配这笔钱。
鲍威尔说:“如果需要的话，非关心法案基金可以用来支持紧急贷款机制。”。“我们致力于使用我们的全套工具。”
姆努钦认为，这些项目——美联储的企业信贷机制、市政贷款机制和面向中小企业的主要街道贷款计划——已经达到了目的，不再有必要。
除此之外，他认为12月31日是法律规定的结束日期。
“我亲自谈判了其中的许多条款。事实上，我带着关心法案，因为我参考了它，并把它放在我的桌子旁边，”姆努钦说。"法令非常明确。"
但是民主党人对此有不同的看法。他们表示，截止日期限制了财政部在年底后向美联储项目提供更多资金，但这并没有阻止美联储保留已经指定用于运行这些项目的资金。
苏珊·沃尔什/美联社
财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦在国会参议院银行委员会作证
共和党人广泛支持姆努钦的举措，认为国会应该通过新的措施来应对未来的挑战。
“如果一些可怕的事情发生，威胁到我们金融市场的生存能力，那么财政部和美联储应该回到国会，要求在那个时候提供适当的设施，”共和党参议员图梅说。，说道。
但数月来，围绕另一项救助法案的谈判陷入僵局，引发了人们的担忧，即即使该国经济形势恶化，即使两党议员呼吁采取立法行动，立法者仍无法妥协分配额外的援助。
“特朗普总统在10月份在推特上向国会发出了‘要么做大要么回家’的呼吁，”医学博士克里斯·范·霍伦(Chris Van Hollen)说。“我们确实需要完成这项工作。如果不解决美国家庭和小企业面临的紧迫需求和痛苦，我们就无法在12月底之前回家。”
但姆努钦表示，他已经与国会共和党高层和总统进行了磋商，他们仍然支持有针对性的纾困措施，而民主党人则推动了价格更高的更广泛的支出计划。一个两党议员小组周二也公布了一项提案。
鲍威尔作证说，现在不是节俭的时候。
鲍威尔说:“我认为过度的风险比不过度的风险要小。”。“这是流行病和危机的记录。你总是认为——人们担心做得太多，你事后回头说，我们可能做得多一点，做得快一点。”
Mnuchin faces grilling over shutdown of CARES Act loan programs
In a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats grilled Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over his decision to end several Federal Reserve emergency loan programs financed through the CARES Act.
In his opening statement, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, excoriated Mnuchin, claiming it would further damage the staggering economy.
“As far as I can tell, Secretary Mnuchin, you are leaving the country worse off that you found it,” Brown said. “Other than using your final months in office to work for the people who you have sworn to serve, you appear to be trying to sabotage our economy on the way out the door.”
Democrats have called for the central bank to maintain control of the more than $400 billion unspent CARES Act dollars, paving the way for the incoming Biden administration to restart lending facilities in 2021.
The Fed publicly broke with Mnuchin last month, signaling disappointment in his decision. But Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who testified alongside Mnuchin, indicated he would return the money to the Treasury Department, where it can then be reappropriated by Congress.
“Non-CARES Act funds are available to support emergency lending facilities if they are needed,” Powell said. “We are committed to using our full range of tools.”
Mnuchin argued that the programs in question -- the Fed's corporate credit facilities, municipal lending facility and the Main Street Lending program for small and mid-size businesses -- have served their purpose and are no longer necessary.
Beyond that, he argued that a Dec. 31 end date is mandated by law.
“I personally negotiated many of these provisions. Matter of fact, I brought the CARES Act with me because I reference it and keep it next to my desk,” Mnuchin said. “The statute was very clear.”
But Democrats see it differently. They say the deadline limits the Treasury from providing more funding to the Fed programs after the end of the year, but it doesn’t stop the Fed from retaining the already earmarked money to run the programs.
Republicans have been broadly supportive of Mnuchin’s move, arguing that Congress should pass new measures to address future challenges.
“If some terrible thing were to happen to threaten the viability of our financial markets, then the Treasury and the Fed should come back to Congress and ask for appropriate facilities at that time,” Sen. Toomey, R-Pa., said.
But months of stalled negotiations over another relief bill have stoked concerns that even if the economic situation in the country worsens, legislators still won’t be able to compromise to allocate additional aid even if lawmakers from both parties call for legislative action.
“President Trump in October tweeted out 'Go big or home' to Congress,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said. “We do need to get this done. We cannot go home before the end of December without addressing the urgent needs and the pain that American households and small businesses are facing.”
But Mnuchin said he had conferred with top Republicans on the Hill and the president, and they remained in favor of a targeted relief measures, while Democrats have pushed for a broader spending package with a higher price tag. A bipartisan group of lawmakers also unveiled a proposal Tuesday.
Powell testified that now is not the time for frugality.
“I think the risk of overdoing it is less than the risk of underdoing it,” Powell said. “That is the record of pandemics and crises. You always think -- people are worried about doing too much, and you look back in hindsight and say, we might have done a little more and done it a little sooner.”
