Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday he and President Donald Trump believe there should be more stimulus to help American businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, but are stuck on top-line negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“The speaker has refused to sit down and negotiate unless we agree to something like a $2.5 trillion deal in advance,” Mnuchin said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Let’s do a more targeted bill now — and if we need to do more in 30 days, we’ll continue to do more. But let’s not hold up the American workers and American businesses that need more support.”
“The president and I believe we should do more stimulus,” Mnuchin said.
The Treasury secretary added Senate Republicans are planning to push a “targeted” or “skinny” relief bill when Congress returns after Labor Day.
The relief bill is expected to include $300 in boosted weekly federal unemployment benefits until Dec. 27, another round of money for the Paycheck Protection Program and an additional $10 billion for the U.S. Postal Service and liability protections.
Additionally, Mnuchin said he and Pelosi have agreed to avert any government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. So, he said they planned to support a “clean” continuing spending resolution separately from stimulus negotiations. Mnuchin said he expected the funding would last through early December.
“We’re having the appropriations staff … meet and go through some specific details on it,” Mnuchin said. “But the good news is we’ve agreed on a clean CR, and I hope by the end of the week … [to] begin moving forward with that.”
On Friday, the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent and the economy recovered 1.4 million jobs. Responding, Mnuchin said Trump would continue to bring that number down to 3 or 4 percent if he’s reelected.
“This economy will fully recover, and the president’s job and my job is not done until everyone gets back to work,” Mnuchin said.