Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that another coronavirus relief package will be needed despite many in the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress saying that consideration of such a bill is premature.
“I think there is a strong likelihood we will need another bill,” said Mnuchin during a virtual event with the Hill on Thursday.
Earlier in May, Mnuchin said repeatedly that the administration is taking a wait-and-see approach regarding the next relief bill. “Before we rush back into the next bill and spend more taxpayer money, we just want to be thoughtful,” he said to reporters during the second week of May.
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Congress has already enacted $2.8 trillion in federal coronavirus relief, and both the GOP and President Trump say they plan to wait for that funding to roll out and for economies to begin reopening before assessing the need for new federal spending legislation.
Thus far, Republicans in Congress have said that instead of another relief package, they plan to focus on efforts to treat and prevent the coronavirus and reopen the economy with “a narrowly crafted” bill to limit liability lawsuits against healthcare workers and small businesses.
“We will continue to discuss with the administration the way forward,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after meeting with GOP rank and file in early May. “I know many people are asking for additional legislation. We are not ruling that out, but we think we ought to take a pause here and do a good job evaluating what we’ve already done.”
