Mnuchin says he's close to resuming stimulus talks with Pelosi

Steven Mnuchin.
(Image credit: Toni L. Sandys-Pool/Getty Images)

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he will soon resume talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) about another coronavirus relief package.

Mnuchin told the Senate Banking Committee that he has "probably spoken to Speaker Pelosi 15 or 20 times in the last few days" on a continuing resolution to extend government funding, and "we've agreed to continue to have discussions about the CARES Act." He also asked Congress to give him the authority to distribute $130 billion in unused Paycheck Protection Program funds to provide loans to small businesses hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline to apply for PPP loans was Aug. 8.

Pelosi told reporters that she will "hopefully soon" start negotiations with Mnuchin, and for now is talking with her caucus and leadership. "We'll see what we're going to do," she said. "But we're ready for a negotiation. That's what we're ready for."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Top Democrats spent Thursday working on a $2.4 trillion relief package that could be used in negotiations or be voted on as a stand-alone package sometime soon, a senior Democratic aide told The New York Times. The House approved a $3.4 trillion rescue measure in May, which Republicans said was bloated and had no chance of passing the Senate.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.