Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the reason there hasn’t been another coronavirus relief package is because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “don’t really want to do a deal right now.”
The New York Times Magazine reports that Mnuchin, who helped get the CARES Act approved in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, is frustrated by the stalemate between lawmakers when it comes to passing another stimulus package.
He noted that the current economic situation is “very different” than it was prior to the passing of the CARES Act.
“We were in absolute crisis, and we were risking a major, major meltdown of financial conditions, economic conditions and health conditions simultaneously,” he said of the state of the country months ago.
In an effort to prevent a total economic collapse, Mnuchin worked with lawmakers and President Donald Trump to enact the largest economic stimulus in the country’s history. The CARES Act cost $2.2 trillion and helped many Americans stay afloat amid shutdowns.
Trump administration officials credit Mnuchin with convincing the president to go for a giant stimulus package rather than a payroll tax cut to help with the economic crisis created by the pandemic, according to the magazine.
He helped convince GOP lawmakers that without the large package, the unemployment rate could jump to 25%. He worked closely with Pelosi and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the package, according to the magazine.
GOP Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho told the outlet that Mnuchin did “a lot of the negotiating between the House and the Senate and the White House.”
While the economy has rebounded and unemployment numbers are decreasing, Mnuchin noted there are still a lot of Americans struggling.
Lawmakers have also struggled to come up with a compromise that would result in another stimulus package. Mnuchin blames the Democrats for the stalemate.
“My takeaway,” he told the Times “is the speaker and Senator Schumer have decided they don’t really want to do a deal right now.”
Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill told the publication that “Democrats have repeatedly compromised in these negotiations.” He noted that the Democrats shaved off $1.2 trillion from their previously proposed package and were waiting for the White House to negotiate.
Mnuchin said the fact that economic recovery has started to take place is “good news,” but he added the state of the economy is also one of the reasons why lawmakers are deadlocked when it comes to figuring out what the next relief package should look like.
When benefits from the CARES Act began to expire over the summer, Mnuchin predicted lawmakers would pass another stimulus package within 10 days. That didn’t happen.
“One good thing about emergencies is it gets everybody lined up,” he said.
House Democrats released a scaled back $2.2 trillion relief package on Monday.
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