Mnuchin to testify before House coronavirus panel

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is set to testify before House lawmakers next week amid stalled coronavirus aid negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders.

Mnuchin will testify on Tuesday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, chaired by Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.).

The hearing “will examine the urgent need for additional economic relief for children, workers, and families and the Administration’s implementation of key stimulus programs passed by Congress earlier this year,” the subcommittee said in a statement.

The hearing will mark Mnuchin’s first congressional testimony since negotiations on a new round of federal coronavirus aid collapsed earlier this month between the Treasury secretary, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

House Democrats had passed a $3.4 trillion coronavirus relief package in May, which was widely rejected by Senate Republicans and White House negotiators. Meadows and other Republicans have called on Democrats to accept a package even slimmer than a $1.1 trillion GOP Senate bill.

Schumer has previously said that any amount below $2 trillion could neither pass in the House nor garner support among Senate Democrats.

President Trump earlier this month signed a slew of executive orders to extend some unemployment benefits, suspend payroll taxes and offer federal eviction and student loan relief.