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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toasted U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday over returning roughly $ 175 billion in unused funds allocated to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
The quarterly hearing before the House Financial Services Committee is mandated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, which was passed by Congress and promulgated by President Donald Trump in March.
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The pandemic stimulus bill provided most Americans with one-time payments of $ 1,200, while businesses and wealthy individuals received more than half a trillion dollars.
During the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) urged Mnuchin to prevent part of the $ 450 billion in relief authorized under the CARES Act from returning to the Treasury Department at the end of the year. year, when the loan distribution period expired.
Mnuchin has indicated he will return around $ 175 billion, even if unemployment and other economic hardships caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic persist.
“We are in such a desperate position given the unfortunate impasse” in Congress, Ocasio-Cortez told Mnuchin. “We’re all aligned in the interest of trying to figure out where we can explore the maximum flexibility offered by the law.”
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The first-year squad member then urged Mnuchin to reallocate the unused funds from the CARES Act.
Wednesday’s hearing took place as Congress struggled to reach agreement on a new pandemic relief bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) On Wednesday insisted that a bipartisan $ 908 billion proposal should be the point of departure of any stimulus – a figure that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed in favor of $ 500 billion in what he calls “targeted aid.”
McConnell was accused on Tuesday of “economic sabotage” and favoring businesses and the wealthy over people who are in desperate need of relief.
“Leave it to Mitch McConnell and [President] Donald Trump to propose a bill that creates tax write-offs for fancy lunches and gives the middle finger to working families and 20 million unemployed Americans, “said Representative Don Beyer (D -Goes.).” This is not a serious proposition, it is a slap in the face for people who need help. “
Leave it to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to come up with a bill that creates tax write-offs for fancy breakfasts and puts the middle finger on working families and twenty million unemployed Americans.
This is not a serious proposition, it is a slap in the face to people who need help.
– Representative Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) December 1, 2020
Some progressive lawmakers have also rejected the $ 908 billion proposal, with Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) Calling the bill out of touch with the needs of ordinary Americans. Tlaib was particularly opposed to the exclusion of stimulus checks from the bill, which she said “shows the Senate’s disconnect from the people on the ground.”
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