President Trump on Monday intensified his push for businesses to reopen as quickly as possible, but companies and cities continued to wait for the disbursement of unspent bailout funds and remain unsure what to expect as rules and programs continue to shift.
In tweets and during a meeting with restaurant executives at the White House, Trump tried to create a new sense of urgency about jump-starting the economy, which has suffered huge losses the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic. He told restaurant executives at a White House meeting that he was open to giving businesses more flexibility in how they use taxpayer funds so they could delay rehiring workers as quickly as originally required.
But while the Treasury Department has rushed to implement some stimulus programs, such as sending $1,200 checks to 140 million households and mobilizing a small-business lending program, other congressionally approved assistance funds are off to a much slower start. The Congressional Oversight Commission, a new body, released a report on Monday finding that the Treasury Department had spent very little from a $500 billion fund created by the Cares Act in March to help businesses and local governments, even though many of these entities have asked for immediate help.
Senators are expected to press Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell about this during a hearing Tuesday morning.
“If it doesn’t get out in a timely fashion, it’s not going to achieve the goal behind its creation,” said Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), a member of the new commission.
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