Trump Wants Control of Economic Rescue Funds
Congressional lawmakers are feuding over a central component of the massive economic relief package being debated by the Senate, a battle that may threaten the enormous emergency aid package while reprising one of the most bitter political fights of the last decade.
The Trump administration and Senate Republicans have called for giving the Treasury Department the authority to disburse hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency federal loans to firms hurt by the economic impact of the coronavirus.
Their initial proposals called for the fund to be worth $208 billion. But after a flurry of lobbying over the weekend, Senate Republicans’ legislation now calls for a $500 billion program that would award loans to states and cities as well as businesses, according to a copy of the most recent GOP proposal.
The provision has become one of the principal logjams in urgent congressional negotiations over emergency help for an American economy facing its worst calamity since the Great Recession, in part because the Treasury Department would have broad discretion over where the money would go. President Trump already has said he wants the money to be used to rescue the cruise ship and hotel industries, making his preferences clear.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/22/treasury-coronavirus-senate-corporate-loan/
