Congressional report accuses Trump officials of awarding $700 million pandemic loan over objections

Steven Mnuchin.
(Image credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

A congressional report released Wednesday suggests two top Trump administration officials — former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper — intervened to ensure Yellow Corporation, a troubled trucking company, received $700 million in pandemic relief money, overriding career officials at the Defense Department who raised concerns over the company's eligibility.

The report was written by Democratic staff on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

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The loan was questioned immediately by watchdog groups, who knew Yellow was being sued by the Justice Department over claims it defrauded the federal government for years. The Defense Department needed to certify Yellow for it to qualify for a national security loan, and the report states that officials recommended against certification because of the accusations that Yellow overcharged the government. The report says a call was set up between Mnuchin and Esper, and after that, Esper certified Yellow; a week later, the loan was announced.

Yellow also had ties to the Trump administration, with its CEO, Darren Hawkins, tapped for a seat on a coronavirus economic task force, and its former CEO, William Zollars, nominated by Trump to the U.S. Postal Service's board of governors. Read more at The New York Times.

Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.