Treasury Secretary Steven Munuchi on Monday told CNBC. Lawmakers should not let the fear of a nation’s loss or the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet delay additional Covid-19 relief, he said.
Munuchin, who has led the administration’s Covid-19 relief talks with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said the economic crisis guarantees extraordinary stimulus from Congress and the Fed.
“Now is not the time to worry about narrowing the deficit or shrinking the Fed balance sheet,” Munchin told CNBC’s “Squawk” from the White House. The good news is that they’ve given us a lot of space to raise our balance sheets, which they did. “
He added, “And I think the only reason we’ve been able to do this in an unprecedented way is with the monetary policy and the Congress, which works with monetary policy, to make the economy better.”
Munuchin’s remarks criticized his fellow Republicans who argue that improving job data and stronger housing figures alleviate the need for additional spending to combat the effects of the coronavirus.
Republican Sen. of Kentucky, for example. Rand Paul last week called the G.O.P. Voted against the “skinny” incentive scheme and has repeatedly attacked his own party for what he sees as his party’s reckless spending.
“When it comes to July, the Republican majority is no longer different from the Socialist Democrats,” Paul wrote on Twitter in July. “They’re not just taking care of debt and preparing to add at least another trillion dollars of debt this month, with a trillion this summer.”
The combined federal budget deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2020 tr. was trillion dollars, according to the Congressional Budget Office Fees, a measure of the government’s intense spending to get the economy through the shutdown associated with the epidemic.
Munuchi, who also argued that more stimulus was needed to help the U.S. economy, noted on Monday that “we are turning very, very significantly again.”
Paul’s vote helped sink Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan, which fell short of the 60 votes needed to take action.
All Democrats present and Paul Lee voted against the bill by 52-47 votes. That law would have reintroduced enhanced federal unemployment insurance at a rate of 300 300 per week, half of the 600 weekly payments that ended in late July.
But Munuchi struck out in a more conciliatory tone on Monday, saying he was still willing to work with Pelosi on a new deal.
“I think there are a lot of areas where there’s an agreement between Democrats and Republicans, and in some areas we have differences.” “But I will continue to work on this: I have told the speaker that I am available for negotiations at any time.”
The Treasury Secretary said he expects the Problem Solvers Caucus to produce a stimulus proposal next Monday.
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