Watchdog Demands Probe After Energy Secretary Admits WH Pressed Fed to Give Oil Companies Access to
Published on
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
by Common Dreams
Watchdog Demands Probe After Energy Secretary Admits WH Pressed Fed to Give Oil Companies Access to Covid-19 Funds
"These Fed facilities are not supposed to direct aid specifically to certain companies or industries—particularly not ones that were in dire financial shape even before the coronavirus crisis began."
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
A watchdog on the congressional committee tasked with overseeing the Trump administration's handling of Covid-19 bailout funds demanded an investigation Tuesday after Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette openly admitted in a television appearance that the White House pressed the Federal Reserve to alter one of its lending programs for the benefit of fossil fuel companies.
"We now know that Trump administration officials 'worked very closely with the Federal Reserve' to make these changes so taxpayer-backed loans would be available to oil and gas firms," tweeted Bharat Ramamurti, a member of the Congressional Oversight Commission. "How do we know? The Energy Secretary went on TV and said so."
In an interview on Bloomberg TV Tuesday, Brouillette, a former corporate lobbyist, said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin "worked very closely with the Federal Reserve" to open one of the central bank's lending programs to the oil and gas industry.
"We adjusted the program—the Main Street Lending Program—and made that program available to what we refer to as mid-cap size companies," said Brouillette.
The energy secretary went on to say that President Donald Trump personally directed him and Mnuchin "to evaluate the programs that were passed by the Congress and ensure that there is access for these energy industries to those programs."
More:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/13/watchdog-demands-probe-after-energy-secretary-admits-wh-pressed-fed-give-oil
