Letter — Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (Clyburn) to Treasury and OMB

Summary

Letter dated June 18, 2020 from James E. Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, to Secretary Steven Mnuchin of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Acting Chairman Tomas Philipson of the Council of Economic Advisers and Acting Director Russell T. Vought of the Office of Management and Budget. The letter asks for release of the unemployment and economic projections that the White House has reportedly decided to omit from the annual mid-session review budget update. It asks the recipients to inform the Subcommittee by June 21, 2020 whether the Administration will include economic and employment forecasts, and otherwise to provide listed documents by July 2, 2020, including projections for calendar years 2020 to 2030. An enclosure gives instructions for responding.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Issuer: Congressional materials
Document type: 2020 06 18 Clyburn To Omb Wh Treasury Re Economic Projections
Date: 2020-06-18
Case: 2020 06 18 Clyburn To Omb Wh Treasury Re Economic Projections

Cite this document

“Letter — Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (Clyburn) to Treasury and OMB.” Dated 2020-06-18. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2020-06-18-2020-06-18-clyburn-to-omb-wh-treasury-re-economic-projections/, SHA-256 ee7aace4786c41e69b9b124757aa9c157a7c8a065eab19405e3c8765546b4eb9.

Full text

June 18, 2020

The Honorable Steven Mnuchin
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20220

The Honorable Tomas Philipson
Acting Chairman
Council of Economic Advisers
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

The Honorable Russell T. Vought
Acting Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Secretary Mnuchin, Mr. Philipson, and Mr. Vought:

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which was modeled after the
Truman Committee during World War II, was established by the House of Representatives on
April 23, 2020, pursuant to House Resolution 935, “to conduct a full and complete investigation”
of “issues related to the coronavirus crisis,” including the “efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and
transparency of the use of taxpayer funds and relief programs to address the coronavirus crisis”
and “the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.”

To that end, the Select Subcommittee is investigating the record levels of unemployment
in the United States during the pandemic. With more than 40 million Americans out of work—
more than any time since the Great Depression—federal leadership to address this crisis is
critical. That starts with an open and honest assessment of the scope of the jobs crisis and how
long it is likely to last. I write today to request that you release the unemployment and economic
projections that the White House has reportedly decided to omit from the annual mid-session
review budget update so Congress can seek effective solutions to help struggling Americans and
prevent further economic damage.
The Honorable Steven Mnuchin
The Honorable Tomas Philipson
The Honorable Russell Vought
Page 2

Independent experts, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, have
expressed concern that high levels of unemployment could last for many months and that a
meaningful economic recovery is unlikely until the federal government advances a clear,
comprehensive plan to address the ongoing public health crisis. 1 The Trump Administration has
advanced a rosier outlook, with the President’s top economic advisor asserting the economy is at
a “turning point” and “is now in the recovery stage,” 2 and the President stating, “Jobs are rapidly
coming back” and the economic recovery is “happening very quickly, way ahead of schedule.” 3
Yet the Administration is withholding underlying economic and employment projections that
every other modern President, Democrat and Republican, has released to the public.

The President is required by law to send Congress a mid-session review of the nation’s
budget that includes, among other data, information the President determines is “advisable to
provide Congress with complete and current information about the budget and current estimates
of the functions, obligations, requirements, and financial condition of the United States
Government.” 4

On May 28, 2020, the Washington Post reported that the White House is planning to
withhold economic and unemployment projections when it submits its mid-session review this
summer—despite the longstanding, bipartisan precedent of including this information. For the
last four decades, the White House has provided mid-year projections on economic trends such
as unemployment, inflation and economic growth—including during the financial crisis in 2007
and 2008.5 This year, however, a senior Administration official reportedly said that the
information will be withheld because releasing it “may mislead the public.”6

1
Federal Reserve Predicts Slow Recovery With Unemployment At 9.3 Percent By End Of 2020,
Washington Post (June 10, 2020) (online at www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/10/fed-forecasts-
economy/); Unemployment To Remain Above 9 Percent into 2021: CBO, The Hill (May 19, 2020) (online at
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/498568-unemployment-to-remain-above-9-percent-into-2021-cbo).
2
White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow Downplays Concern About Second Coronavirus Wave,
MarketWatch (June 14, 2020) (online at www.marketwatch.com/story/white-house-economic-advisor-kudlow-
downplays-fear-of-second-coronavirus-wave-2020-06-14).
3
The White House, Remarks by President Trump at Signing of an Executive Order on Safe Policing for
Safe Communities (June 16, 2020) (online at www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-
signing-executive-order-safe-policing-safe-communities/).
4
31 U.S.C. 1106.
5
Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2009 Midsession Review: Budget of the U.S. Government
(July 28, 2008) (online at
www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/assets/OMB/budget/fy2009/pdf/09msr.pdf); Office of
Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2008 Midsession Review: Budget of the U.S. Government (July 11, 2007)
(online at www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2008-MSR/pdf/BUDGET-2008-MSR.pdf).
6
Breaking Precedent, White House Won’t Release Formal Economic Projections This Summer That Would
Forecast Extent Of Downturn, Washington Post (May 28, 2020) (online at
www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/28/white-house-coronavirus-economic-projections/).
The Honorable Steven Mnuchin
The Honorable Tomas Philipson
The Honorable Russell Vought
Page 3

Concealing economic forecasts from the American people during a jobs crisis is
counterproductive, in conflict with bipartisan precedent, and contrary to the intent of Congress.
Now is not the time to ignore difficult facts about the direction of our economy or hard truths
about the record-high unemployment across the country. Faced with job losses unmatched since
the Great Depression, we should avail ourselves of the expertise of career federal officials to
seek a path forward—not hide their analyses for short-term political gain. The federal
government’s economic forecasts are the product of taxpayer dollars, and the government has a
duty to share its analyses with Congress and the public. Many temporary economic assistance
programs passed by Congress to address the pandemic—including the $600 weekly increase in
unemployment insurance benefits and the moratorium on evictions—will expire next month.7 It
is essential to have comprehensive data in order to assess the effectiveness of enacted programs
in ameliorating economic pain and to determine what more Congress should do.

For these reasons, the Select Subcommittee requests that you inform the Subcommittee
by June 21, 2020, whether the Administration will include a comprehensive set of economic and
employment forecasts in this year’s mid-session review covering the same categories of
information provided in previous years.

If you do not confirm that you will include these forecasts in this year’s mid-session
review, the Select Subcommittee requests that you provide the Subcommittee with the following
documents and information by July 2, 2020:

1. All economic projections for calendar years 2020 to 2030, including drafts and
underlying data and analyses, related to:

a. The unemployment rate, including for the third quarter and fourth quarter
of 2020;

b. Gross domestic product;

c. Domestic corporate profits;

d. Employee compensation;

e. Wages and salaries;

f. Housing starts;

g. Motor vehicle sales;

7
Congressional Research Service, CARES Act Eviction Moratorium (Apr. 7, 2020) (online at
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11320); Letter from Phillip Swagel, Director, Congressional
Budget Office, to Chairman Charles Grassley, Senate Committee on Finance (June 4, 2020) (online at
www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-06/56387-CBO-Grassley-Letter.pdf).
The Honorable Steven Mnuchin
The Honorable Tomas Philipson
The Honorable Russell Vought
Page 4

h. Industrial production;

i. The vacancy rate for rental housing units; and

j. Outstanding consumer credit;

2. All projections by industry or sector, for calendar years 2020 to 2030, of the
unemployment rate, employee compensation, or wages and salaries;

3. All documents and communications related to evaluations and assessments of the
actual or potential impact of legislation related to the coronavirus crisis on the
unemployment rate, employee compensation, or wages and salaries; and

4. All documents and communications regarding whether to issue economic
forecasts this year, including but not limited to whether to include economic
forecasts in the mid-session review.

An attachment to this letter provides additional instructions for responding to these
requests. If you have any questions about this request, please contact Select Subcommittee staff
at (202) 225-4400.

Sincerely,

James E. Clyburn
Chairman

Enclosure

cc: The Honorable Steve Scalise, Ranking Member
Responding to Oversight Committee Document Requests

1. In complying with this request, produce all responsive documents that are in your
possession, custody, or control, whether held by you or your past or present agents,
employees, and representatives acting on your behalf. Produce all documents that you
have a legal right to obtain, that you have a right to copy, or to which you have access, as
well as documents that you have placed in the temporary possession, custody, or control
of any third party.

2. Requested documents, and all documents reasonably related to the requested documents,
should not be destroyed, altered, removed, transferred, or otherwise made inaccessible to
the Committee.

3. In the event that any entity, organization, or individual denoted in this request is or has
been known by any name other than that herein denoted, the request shall be read also to
include that alternative identification.

4. The Committee’s preference is to receive documents in electronic form (i.e., CD,
memory stick, thumb drive, or secure file transfer) in lieu of paper productions.

5. Documents produced in electronic format should be organized, identified, and indexed
electronically.

6. Electronic document productions should be prepared according to the following
standards:

a. The production should consist of single page Tagged Image File (“TIF”), files
accompanied by a Concordance-format load file, an Opticon reference file, and a
file defining the fields and character lengths of the load file.

b. Document numbers in the load file should match document Bates numbers and
TIF file names.

c. If the production is completed through a series of multiple partial productions,
field names and file order in all load files should match.

d. All electronic documents produced to the Committee should include the following
fields of metadata specific to each document, and no modifications should be
made to the original metadata:

BEGDOC, ENDDOC, TEXT, BEGATTACH, ENDATTACH, PAGECOUNT,
CUSTODIAN, RECORDTYPE, DATE, TIME, SENTDATE, SENTTIME,
BEGINDATE, BEGINTIME, ENDDATE, ENDTIME, AUTHOR, FROM, CC,
TO, BCC, SUBJECT, TITLE, FILENAME, FILEEXT, FILESIZE,
DATECREATED, TIMECREATED, DATELASTMOD, TIMELASTMOD,
INTMSGID, INTMSGHEADER, NATIVELINK, INTFILPATH, EXCEPTION,
BEGATTACH.

7. Documents produced to the Committee should include an index describing the contents
of the production. To the extent more than one CD, hard drive, memory stick, thumb
drive, zip file, box, or folder is produced, each should contain an index describing its
contents.

8. Documents produced in response to this request shall be produced together with copies of
file labels, dividers, or identifying markers with which they were associated when the
request was served.

9. When you produce documents, you should identify the paragraph(s) or request(s) in the
Committee’s letter to which the documents respond.

10. The fact that any other person or entity also possesses non-identical or identical copies of
the same documents shall not be a basis to withhold any information.

11. The pendency of or potential for litigation shall not be a basis to withhold any
information.

12. In accordance with 5 U.S.C.§ 552(d), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and any
statutory exemptions to FOIA shall not be a basis for withholding any information.

13. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(9), the Privacy Act shall not be a basis for withholding
information.

14. If compliance with the request cannot be made in full by the specified return date,
compliance shall be made to the extent possible by that date. An explanation of why full
compliance is not possible shall be provided along with any partial production.

15. In the event that a document is withheld on the basis of privilege, provide a privilege log
containing the following information concerning any such document: (a) every privilege
asserted; (b) the type of document; (c) the general subject matter; (d) the date, author,
addressee, and any other recipient(s); (e) the relationship of the author and addressee to
each other; and (f) the basis for the privilege(s) asserted.

16. If any document responsive to this request was, but no longer is, in your possession,
custody, or control, identify the document (by date, author, subject, and recipients), and
explain the circumstances under which the document ceased to be in your possession,
custody, or control.

17. If a date or other descriptive detail set forth in this request referring to a document is
inaccurate, but the actual date or other descriptive detail is known to you or is otherwise
apparent from the context of the request, produce all documents that would be responsive
as if the date or other descriptive detail were correct.

2
18. This request is continuing in nature and applies to any newly-discovered information.
Any record, document, compilation of data, or information not produced because it has
not been located or discovered by the return date shall be produced immediately upon
subsequent location or discovery.

19. All documents shall be Bates-stamped sequentially and produced sequentially.

20. Two sets of each production shall be delivered, one set to the Majority Staff and one set
to the Minority Staff. When documents are produced to the Committee, production sets
shall be delivered to the Majority Staff in Room 2157 of the Rayburn House Office
Building and the Minority Staff in Room 2105 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

21. Upon completion of the production, submit a written certification, signed by you or your
counsel, stating that: (1) a diligent search has been completed of all documents in your
possession, custody, or control that reasonably could contain responsive documents; and
(2) all documents located during the search that are responsive have been produced to the
Committee.

Definitions

1. The term “document” means any written, recorded, or graphic matter of any nature
whatsoever, regardless of how recorded, and whether original or copy, including, but not
limited to, the following: memoranda, reports, expense reports, books, manuals,
instructions, financial reports, data, working papers, records, notes, letters, notices,
confirmations, telegrams, receipts, appraisals, pamphlets, magazines, newspapers,
prospectuses, communications, electronic mail (email), contracts, cables, notations of any
type of conversation, telephone call, meeting or other inter-office or intra-office
communication, bulletins, printed matter, computer printouts, teletypes, invoices,
transcripts, diaries, analyses, returns, summaries, minutes, bills, accounts, estimates,
projections, comparisons, messages, correspondence, press releases, circulars, financial
statements, reviews, opinions, offers, studies and investigations, questionnaires and
surveys, and work sheets (and all drafts, preliminary versions, alterations, modifications,
revisions, changes, and amendments of any of the foregoing, as well as any attachments
or appendices thereto), and graphic or oral records or representations of any kind
(including without limitation, photographs, charts, graphs, microfiche, microfilm,
videotape, recordings and motion pictures), and electronic, mechanical, and electric
records or representations of any kind (including, without limitation, tapes, cassettes,
disks, and recordings) and other written, printed, typed, or other graphic or recorded
matter of any kind or nature, however produced or reproduced, and whether preserved in
writing, film, tape, disk, videotape, or otherwise. A document bearing any notation not a
part of the original text is to be considered a separate document. A draft or non-identical
copy is a separate document within the meaning of this term.

2. The term “communication” means each manner or means of disclosure or exchange of
information, regardless of means utilized, whether oral, electronic, by document or
otherwise, and whether in a meeting, by telephone, facsimile, mail, releases, electronic

3
message including email (desktop or mobile device), text message, instant message,
MMS or SMS message, message application, or otherwise.

3. The terms “and” and “or” shall be construed broadly and either conjunctively or
disjunctively to bring within the scope of this request any information that might
otherwise be construed to be outside its scope. The singular includes plural number, and
vice versa. The masculine includes the feminine and neutral genders.

4. The term “including” shall be construed broadly to mean “including, but not limited to.”

5. The term “Company” means the named legal entity as well as any units, firms,
partnerships, associations, corporations, limited liability companies, trusts, subsidiaries,
affiliates, divisions, departments, branches, joint ventures, proprietorships, syndicates, or
other legal, business or government entities over which the named legal entity exercises
control or in which the named entity has any ownership whatsoever.

6. The term “identify,” when used in a question about individuals, means to provide the
following information: (a) the individual’s complete name and title; (b) the
individual’s business or personal address and phone number; and (c) any and all
known aliases.

7. The term “related to” or “referring or relating to,” with respect to any given subject,
means anything that constitutes, contains, embodies, reflects, identifies, states, refers to,
deals with, or is pertinent to that subject in any manner whatsoever.

8. The term “employee” means any past or present agent, borrowed employee, casual
employee, consultant, contractor, de facto employee, detailee, fellow, independent
contractor, intern, joint adventurer, loaned employee, officer, part-time employee,
permanent employee, provisional employee, special government employee,
subcontractor, or any other type of service provider.

9. The term “individual” means all natural persons and all persons or entities acting on
their behalf.

File and source

File: 2020-06-18-clyburn-to-omb-wh-treasury-re-economic-projections.pdf
Size: 166,883 bytes
SHA-256: ee7aace4786c41e69b9b124757aa9c157a7c8a065eab19405e3c8765546b4eb9
Our copy: 2020-06-18-clyburn-to-omb-wh-treasury-re-economic-projections.pdf
Original: No public link identified.