Mnuchin Can Extend Fed Programs, Congress’s Research Agency Says
- Democrats say analysis demonstrates lending should continue
- GOP seeking to put hard stop to Fed facilities in relief bill
Steven Mnuchin
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Democrats notched a small win in their bid to prove that there’s legal authority for the Federal Reserve emergency lending programs to extend past the end of the year: researchers at the Library of Congress agree with them.
The Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress, said in a memo released Thursday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has the authority to extend the lending programs if he so chooses and that the facilities can continue to make loans and purchase assets backstopped by the money already invested into the Fed vehicles.