Trump administration seeks roughly $850 billion in emergency stimulus to confront coronavirus economic fallout
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is asking Congress to approve a massive economic stimulus package of around $850 billion to stanch the economic free-fall caused by the coronavirus, four officials familiar with the planning said Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will present details to Senate Republicans later Tuesday. The package would be mostly devoted to flooding the economy with cash, through a payroll tax cut or other mechanism, two of the officials said, with some $50 billion directed specifically to helping the airline industry. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Mnuchin would like to see the package pass the Senate by the end of the week, he told senators Monday evening in a meeting at the Capitol.
"I think the assumption's going to be that we're going to do something, it should be big. Because we can't assume that we're just going to keep coming back," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Monday night leaving a meeting with Mnuchin and other administration officials.
Rubio said aid to airlines was likely to be included. "We still need to get people around the country. I have no doubt that's going to be a major feature of the next step."
It's unclear how warmly the design of the White House's proposal will be received. Trump has for several weeks pushed Congress to cut or eliminate the payroll tax, which is paid by employees and employers and funds Social Security and Medicare benefits. Many Democrats have complained that such a tax cut would not necessarily directly benefit people who have lost jobs because of the coronavirus crisis. But lawmakers have, in recent days, talked about the need for a huge economic package to stabilize the economy, and it's likely that some ideas are being revisited.
The attempt to inject a massive amount of money into the economy is reminiscent of the bailouts and stimulus steps Congress took during the economic crisis more than a decade ago. This time around, with everyday life in America screeching to a halt, the intervention may need to be faster and even more extreme. In 2008, Congress passed a $700 billion package, called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to try and rescue the financial system.
The package the White House is pursuing now would be bigger, not adjusted for inflation, but it would include things like tax cuts that the 2008 program lacked.
Still, the economic fallout from the current crisis only appears to be gaining momentum. Many schools have closed around the country, and the federal government told Americans Monday to limit gatherings of more than 10 people. President Donald Trump warned a recession could be on the horizon.
The massive package now under consideration would be the third step Congress has taken as it moves rapidly to address aspects of the pandemic.
Earlier this month Congress approved $8.3 billion in emergency spending for public health programs, and last week the House passed a package with paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, money for food stamps, free coronavirus testing and more. That legislation must still pass the Senate after the House approved modifications late Monday that were billed as "technical corrections" but actually scaled back the sick leave provisions.
