White House adviser: Too early to know if more relief aid needed
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the federal government has already "spent a lot of money." Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
A top White House economic adviser said Sunday that "informal" discussions are underway to pass a fifth coronavirus stimulus package, though White House officials say it's too early to know if another federal aid package is warranted.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday she was looking to put a new stimulus package up for a House vote this week. The Democrats' priority is to fund up to $1 trillion in aid, including to state and local governments, contact tracing, extension of unemployment insurance and loans to small businesses.
But President Donald Trump on Friday said he is in "no rush" to approve further economic aid to the country, setting up a bipartisan divide over how quickly the federal government should act to introduce a fifth major injection of money into the economy as it struggles with the greatest unemployment rate since the Great Depression.
Republicans and White House officials have said they want to evaluate whether the nearly $7 trillion in grants and loans approved have worked.
Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that "it's not that we're not talking. We are. It's just informal at this stage. And, really, after all this assistance, let's have a look at what the impact is in at least the next couple of weeks for the economy."
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on "Fox News Sunday" that "Democrats have been asking for more money for states. We've been very clear that we're not going to do things to bail out states that were poorly managed."
Mnuchin said Sunday that the federal government has already "spent a lot of money. A lot of this money is not even into the economy yet; let's take the next few weeks ... We just want to make sure that before we jump back in and spend another few trillion of taxpayers' money, that we do it carefully."
Also Sunday, White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett predicted that unemployment could reach close to 20% before rebounding with "very strong growth" in the second half of the year.
Hassett told host Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union" that "almost everybody who declared themselves unemployed said they expect to go back to work in the next six months."
A Washington Post-Ipsos Poll released Friday found that 77% of laid-off or furloughed workers expect to be rehired by their former employer when stay-at-home orders are lifted.
Tapper noted that a report from the University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute predicts 42% of job losses stemming from the pandemic will become permanent.
Mnuchin acknowledged to "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace that "we could be" close to 25% unemployment. "The reported numbers are probably going to get worse before they get better," he said.
But Mnuchin said that economic damage could become permanent if the economy doesn't reopen soon.
"I think there's a considerable risk of not reopening, you're talking about what would be permanent economic damage to the American public, and we're going to reopen in a very thoughtful way that gets people back to work safely," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Friday that "no one could look at today’s jobs report, the highest unemployment since the Great Depression, and say we should hit the pause button on further government action."
Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
