Sen. Toomey on Congress' agreement on $900B Covid-19 relief package

Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., on Monday defended his opposition to extending emergency Federal Reserve lending programs, which had emerged as a last-minute sticking point in coronavirus stimulus negotiations.

A deal over the weekend was eventually reached around the Fed’s lending powers, paving the way for an agreement on the larger, $900 billion relief package. Congress was set to vote on the bill Monday.

Democrats had worried Toomey’s original proposal would prevent the Fed from adequately responding to future crises.

In an interview on “Squawk Box,” Toomey said he fully supported the wide-ranging credit programs launched by the central bank in March in response to the burgeoning pandemic. But the Pennsylvania Republican contended that they should be wound down at the end of December and Congressional approval must be required again before restarting them.

“These are unprecedented, extraordinary powers, and they’re only justifiable in a real emergency,” Toomey told CNBC. “The Fed recognized that. They came to Congress back in March and said, ‘This is what we’d like to do. Will you fund it?’ And then they set them up, and I voted for that. I supported that because I thought we were in such an emergency. We are clearly not in a financial crisis at this point.”

Rather, Toomey said the U.S. economy was recovering well from the pandemic except for a few sectors, such as travel and hospitality. For that reason, Toomey said economic assistance programs should be more targeted.

Some Democrats had criticized Toomey’s initial stance toward the Fed, suggesting he and other Republicans were attempting to limit the tools available for President-elect Joe Biden’s administration once it takes over in January. Toomey said he was fighting to ensure the central bank stayed in its lane of monetary policy.

Toomey spokesman Steve Kelly told Reuters that the senator’s agreement with Democrats “rescinds more than $429 billion in unused CARES Act funds; definitively ends the CARES Act lending facilities by December 31, 2020; stops these facilities from being restarted; and forbids them from being duplicated without congressional approval.” A senior Democratic aide said, according to Reuters, that Toomey had agreed to “drop the broad language in his proposal that would have prevented the Fed chair from establishing similar facilities in the future.”

On CNBC on Monday, Toomey, who serves on the Senate’s Finance, Budget and Banking committees, said “My concern was there would be tremendous political pressure to misuse these, to morph these liquidity facilities that had successfully restored market liquidity and turn them into an instrument of fiscal policy, which is a terrible idea.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC he believes Democrats and Republicans struck “a very good compromise” around the Fed’s emergency lending powers. “This is no different than after the financial crisis in Dodd-Frank,” he said Monday on “Squawk on the Street,” referring to the 2010 law that regulated financial institutions. “The Fed used to be able to lend directly to any one company and Congress said, ‘No. We want you to come back if you need that in the future.’"

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[traillesstravelled]

Remember they paid themselves first, legally and well you

[Mcmill]

They went from 2.2 trillion to 1.8 trillion to a final 900 billion. What is the point of keeping these people in their offices?

[slynskey]

his real concern was for biden not to have the use of it. rather than trump.

[ETERNALLIFEINELOHIM]

$600 will buy toilet paper for 2weeks, family of 5. Wipe wisely!

[THATBOISHAD]

I wish sometimes these interviewers would actually challenge the person that they are interviewing she just sat there and let him speak and say what he want to say now challenging him not telling him hey this is not what really happened

[ronramsey]

That's not a relief bill that's a comic book

[ce]

People needs to find out what all these Congress own and don’t buy anything from them

[brilliantdiva]

How ignorant. We are still in a Pandemic.

[tacoharris]

i can tell this man is on my side the working mans side lol what a joke yet they keep getting reelected

[hoodiegod]

The economy is not a reflection of how good people are doing

[oldnoob]

Public utilities need to be free until the government can figure out how to fix this.

[bwise]

Wow I like watching that stock market numbers just tank the longer he talks

[mesmartgnome]

What an awful human being. He’s paid and living high on the hog while we clamor for scraps.

[dragchain]

Why isn’t anyone asking, why are States looking to the Federal gov’t at all? Isn’t that the real purpose of the Constitution, maintaining individual sovereignty & preventing the centralization of authority? The Federal gov’t is supposed to be responsible for military & foreign affairs. They are not supposed to be dictating policy to States at all, but especially not through financial persuasion.

[traillesstravelled]

With $600, wow now mom can get that heart transplant.

[barrierloss]

OHh I FORGOT this spending bill was for the CAPITAL MARKETS? FOR LUQIDITY?? BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT NEEDED FIXING RIGHT????

[pamlewis]

So we're not in a national emergency? Wtf is wrong with this guy?

[Massproduce]

At this point just give that money to the landlords.

[deborahray]

Where is it coming from??? Hell reduce their salaries and that's WHERE IT COMES FROM.

[johncap]

"ARE WE SURE NOW?" DID THEY FORGET ANYTHING?? Don't wanna hear the last second someone wants something and said no...