Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Source documents Statement of Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin Before the Financial Services Committee — December 2, 2020

Statement of Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin Before the Financial Services Committee — December 2, 2020

Summary

Statement of Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, Department of the Treasury, before the Financial Services Committee, dated December 2, 2020. The statement says that in the third quarter GDP grew by 33.1% at an annual rate and that the October jobs report showed the economy has gained back 12.1 million jobs since April, with the unemployment rate decreased to 6.9%. It encourages Congress to use the $455 billion in unused funds from the CARES Act to pass an additional bill with bipartisan support. The statement also describes Treasury's cooperation with oversight bodies and says this marks the Secretary's ninth appearance before Congress for a CARES Act hearing.

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

Cite this document

“Statement of Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin Before the Financial Services Committee — December 2, 2020.” Original at docs.house.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/hhrg-116-ba00-wstate-mnuchins-20201202-5e6fb3e46513-8ecf4016cf/, SHA-256 5e6fb3e465136fa3a37ab21c920a159c45f501459fab1e35df93b17b51c6aeee.

Full text

                          Statement of Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin
                                 Department of the Treasury
                           Before the Financial Services Committee
                                U.S. House of Representatives
                                      December 2, 2020


Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, and members of the Committee, I am pleased
to join you today to discuss the Department of the Treasury’s unprecedented response to support
the American people throughout the coronavirus pandemic. We continue to work to implement
the historic CARES Act with speed, efficiency, and transparency, but our job will not be
complete until we get every American back to work.


Economic Recovery


When I last testified before you in September, I stated that America is in the midst of the fastest
economic recovery from any crisis in U.S. history. I am proud to say that while there is more
work to be done, that statement is even more true today. In the third quarter, GDP grew by
33.1% at an annual rate, beating all expectations and nearly doubling the previous record set in
1950.


Americans are getting back to work. The October jobs report showed that the economy has
gained back 12.1 million jobs since April—more than 50% of all jobs lost due to the pandemic.
The private service-providing sector, which includes those industries that were most impacted by
the initial economic shutdowns, has regained 58% of the jobs lost. The unemployment rate has
decreased to 6.9%, a rate not expected by Blue Chip to be achieved until the fourth quarter of
2021.


The historic, bipartisan CARES Act provided the economic relief critical to supporting our
robust recovery. Additional economic shutdowns, however, continue to impair this remarkable
progress and cause great harm to American businesses and workers.
Additional Economic Relief


Based on recent economic data, I continue to believe that a targeted fiscal package is the most
appropriate federal response. I strongly encourage Congress to use the $455 billion in unused
funds from the CARES Act to pass an additional bill with bipartisan support. The Administration
is standing ready to support Congress in this effort to help American workers and small
businesses that continue to struggle with the impact of COVID-19.


Transparency


Treasury has been working hard to implement the CARES Act in a transparent and efficient
manner. We have released a significant amount of information to the public on our website,
Treasury.gov, and on USAspending.gov. In many instances, we have released more information
than what is required by the statute.


We continue to cooperate with various oversight bodies, including the new Special Inspector
General for Pandemic Relief, the Treasury Inspector General, the Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration, the new Congressional Oversight Commission, and the Government
Accountability Office (GAO).


We have provided regular updates to Congress, with this marking my ninth appearance before
Congress for a CARES Act hearing. We have also devoted significant resources to responding to
inquiries from numerous congressional committees and individual Members of Congress on both
sides of the aisle. We appreciate your interest in these issues, and we remain committed to
working with you to accommodate Congress’s legislative requests and to further advance our
whole-of-government approach to defeating COVID-19.


Conclusion


I would like to thank the members of the Committee for working with us to provide critical
economic relief to the American people. I am pleased to answer any questions you may have.

File and source

File
hhrg-116-ba00-wstate-mnuchins-20201202-5e6fb3e46513.pdf
Size
69,953 bytes
SHA-256
5e6fb3e465136fa3a37ab21c920a159c45f501459fab1e35df93b17b51c6aeee
Our copy
hhrg-116-ba00-wstate-mnuchins-20201202-5e6fb3e46513.pdf
Original
docs.house.gov
Back to top