Democratic and Republican leaders seemingly attempted to revive coronavirus relief-package talks on Wednesday, a discussion that remained unfruitful and prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to characterize the nature of the meeting in such a way that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said was not an accurate portrayal of what happened during the conversation.
In a <a href="https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/81220-1">joint statement</a> with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the two Democratic leaders accused the Trump administration of failing to understand the nature of the problem, and refusing to budge on the “size and scope” of the package.
“Democrats have compromised. Repeatedly, we have made clear to the Trump administration that we are willing to come down $1 trillion if they will come up $1 trillion,” said Pelosi and Schumer.
“We have again made clear to the administration that we are willing to resume negotiations once they start to take this process seriously. The lives and livelihoods of the American people, as well as the life of our democracy are at stake,” said the duo.
Mnuchin fired back with his <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1091">own statement</a>, in which he concluded that the Democrats weren’t interested in pursuing negotiations on a package.
“Earlier today, Speaker Pelosi and I spoke by phone. Her statement is not an accurate reflection of our conversation. She made clear that she was unwilling to meet to continue negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at least $2 trillion,” said the treasury secretary.
“The Administration is willing to move forward with legislation that allows for substantial funds for schools, child care, food, vaccines, hospitals, PPP for small businesses, rental assistance, broadband, airports, state and local government assistance, and liability protection for universities, schools, and businesses,” he said.
The renewed attempt at legislation comes after President Donald Trump took four executive actions over the weekend, one of which would help to extend the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-extends-weekly-unemployment-boost-at-400-after-relief-negotiations-fail-takes-three-other-actions">unemployment insurance boost</a> — which expired July 31 — at $400 per week and 75% federal funding. The remaining funds would need to be provided by individual states.
A separate executive action allowed for the creation of a payroll tax holiday, which the president suggested could become permanent should he win re-election. Another order was designed to provide relief to people who have federal student loans by extending the current 0% interest rate and halting payments.
Although the executive actions were more narrow in scope than the potential coronavirus relief bill — the GOP proposal was $1 trillion and the Democratic bill was over $3 trillion — Trump has since said that no package will be making its way through Congress anytime soon. 
“The bill’s not going to happen because they don’t even want to talk about it, because we can’t give them the kind of ridiculous things that they want,” said Trump during a press conference at the White House on Wednesday.
“It has nothing to do with China Virus, much of what they’re asking for,” he added.

House Speaker Pelosi Holds Weekly News Conference

Pelosi Says Trump Admin Refusing To Budge On Relief Measures; Mnuchin Responds

COVID

Donald Trump

Nancy Pelosi

Steve Mnuchin

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin appeared on the Sunday morning talk shows to explain the White House&#8217;s decision to press Republican legislators to lower the amount of Federal unemployment assistance outlined in a fourth coronavirus relief package, set to be released this week.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Mnuchin &#8220;took a hard line&#8221; against continuing the $600-per-week federal unemployment benefit, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/coronavirus-report/509062-mnuchin-it-wouldnt-be-fair-to-use-taxpayer-dollars-to-pay-more">per The Hill</a>, suggesting that the administration wants Americans to get back to work, even if that means seeking out employment because they can&#8217;t return to their former jobs.
“It just wouldn’t be fair to use taxpayer dollars to pay more people to sit home than they would working and get a job,&#8221; Mnuchin told host Chris Wallace.
&#8220;I think workers and Americans understand the concept that you shouldn&#8217;t be paid more to stay home than to work,&#8221; he added.
Instead, Mnuchin said, the Trump White House is pressing for a second round of $1200 stimulus payments to individual Americans &#8212; a plan, Mnuchin said, would get money into pockets faster than an unemployment hike or a payroll tax, which the White House pressed for initially but has now abandoned &#8212; and has asked Congress to add 2 million additional recipients who were excluded from the last round of handouts to the list of individuals receiving payments.
“The direct payments are a much quicker way of effectively giving everyone a tax cut — much quicker than the payroll tax cut,” he said. “June retail sales were 1 percent higher than June of last year, so all that money we pumped into the economy, it worked. People went out and spent.”
The payroll tax, Mnuchin added, was unlikely to pass the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had expressed hardline opposition to the measure.
Senate Republicans are optimistic that the latest round of coronavirus relief will pass early this week, even though, at meetings last week &#8212; including a private lunch with only GOP leadership &#8212; certain key Republican legislators expressed concerns about a $1 trillion relief package passing so soon after the $4 trillion CARES Act. Many, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), encouraged Senate leadership to wait on the bill until there is more evidence that the American economy can withstand another major federal spending package.
Mnuchin, though, seemed unfazed by Republican opposition, telling Wallace that even this $1 trillion package might not be the final round of coronavirus relief spending.
&#8220;This will be the fifth set of legislation, so there&#8217;s no reason why we can&#8217;t have number five, six, and seven as we need to deal with issues, and obviously anything we do, we need bipartisan support,&#8221; Mnuchin said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) does want to move quickly on the measure, regardless of outstanding votes, as some key elements of the CARES Act are set to expire at the end of July. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mnuchin-coronavirus-second-stimulus-bill">Fox News reports</a> that the &#8220;Paycheck Protection Program that provides small businesses with forgivable loans, is set to end in early August, and the enhanced unemployment insurance benefits will expire on July 31. A federal eviction ban already ended on July 25.&#8221;

steve mnuchin

Mnuchin Explains Decision To Scale Back Federal Unemployment: We’re Not Going To Use Taxpayer Money To Pay People To Stay Home

Mitch McConnell

Ted Cruz

Senate Republicans and the White House have agreed in principle on a new stimulus bill to help Americans and shore up the economy in the midst of the coronavirus, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the package will mirror the one in March, which gave millions of Americans $1,200.
&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about the same provision as last time, so our proposal is the exact same proposal as last time,&#8221; Mnuchin told reporters, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/508674-gop-coronavirus-plan-to-include-1200-stimulus-check-for-some-individuals">The Hill</a>. He said direct payments to Americans will be the same as set out in the $2.2 trillion bill signed into law in late March.
Lawmakers at the Capitol said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set to release the plan on Thursday. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) announced a “fundamental agreement” on the funding levels, The <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/22/coronavirus-stimulus-senate-republicans-white-hous/">Washington Times</a> reported.
Under the March bill passed by Congress, individuals were eligible for payments of up to $1,200, but that amount declined for those with an adjusted gross income higher than $75,000 a year, based on their 2018 tax filings. The $1,200 payment dropped by 5% of every dollar above $75,000, or $50 for every $1,000.
The benefit didn’t apply for individuals with incomes over $99,000.
Married couples with combined incomes of up to $150,000 received $2,400, subject to the same phaseout that applied to individuals. The payments were phased out entirely for couples making $198,000 or more. Families also got $500 per dependent child under the age of 16. About 120 million U.S. taxpayers qualified for direct payments from the federal government under the bill.
But the cap will be lowered, according to reports.
&#8220;The decision to stick to the March formula is a shift from over the recess, when [McConnell] appeared to signal that while Republicans would support another round of checks, the next round would include a lower income cap of around $40,000,&#8221; <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/508674-gop-coronavirus-plan-to-include-1200-stimulus-check-for-some-individuals">The Hill</a> reported.
&#8220;I think the people that have been hit the hardest are people who make about $40,000 or less. Many of them work in the hospitality industry. &#8230; That could well be a part of it,&#8221; McConnell told reporters in Kentucky during the two-week recess, said The Hill.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) opposed the lowering of the cap. “I think families making over $40,000 probably need assistance &#8230; depending on their family situation,” she said, according to The Hill.
Mnuchin said a payroll tax cut, which President Trump pushed in earlier negotiations on the bill, will not be part of the new legislative package. He said the president&#8217;s &#8220;priority for the moment is to get money into Americans quickly, and one of the problems with the payroll tax cut is it takes time.&#8221;
The package is expected to include $70 billion for schools, $30 billion for colleges and universities, and $5 billion for governors to spend at their discretion. It will also call for $16 billion in new funding for testing, plus $9 billion that was approved in March, but not spent.
“We’ll have $16 billion in a line tomorrow, and $9 billion that previously was not as clearly designated that they already had will now be clearly designated as testing, so the total testing money will be $25 billion,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) told reporters, according to the Times.

Partial view on a US Treasury payment check

GOP Stimulus Plan To Include $1,200 Checks For Millions Of Americans

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the Trump administration is backing another round of stimulus checks to millions of Americans as part of another coronavirus relief package.
Congress has done nothing to directly help Americans since a first wave of stimulus checks went out in April, but Mnuchin said the administration is working “on a bipartisan basis with Republicans and Democrats&#8221; to get to an agreement. He said it’s a “priority” to have legislation passed by July 20.
“We do support another round of economic impact payments,” Mnuchin said in an interview with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mnuchin-white-house-backs-more-stimulus-payments">CNBC</a>. “We’re discussing the criteria with the Senate, and had a productive talk with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
Mnuchin did not provide specific details.
President Trump has expressed support for another round of stimulus checks, which he implied could be larger than the $1,200 per person that millions of Americans received this spring.
Trump late last month said the next stimulus package would be “very generous” and would be announced in “a couple of weeks.”
Trump spoke of a second stimulus during an interview with Joe St. George, Washington correspondent for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimwang/2020/06/22/president-trump-next-stimulus-bill-will-be-very-generous-and-announced-in-a-couple-of-weeks/#4beb5f632b23">Scripps</a>:
<blockquote>ST. GEORGE: I have a lot of viewers in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, who are still struggling economically, sir. They spent all of that first stimulus check. Are you going to get them a second stimulus check?
TRUMP: Yeah, we are. We are. Look we had this —
ST. GEORGE: When? When are you going to get it?
TRUMP: We had this going better than anybody’s ever seen before. We had the best job numbers, the best economics, the best economy we’ve ever had, and then we had the virus come in from China. Now we’re rebuilding it again. We will be doing another stimulus package. It’ll be very good; it’ll be very generous, and people—
ST. GEORGE: How much? People want to know.
TRUMP: You’ll find out about it. You’ll find out.</blockquote>
The House has already passed a bill that calls for a stimulus check similar to the one available in the Cares Act — a $1,200 check for adults and as many as three child dependents. That means a family of two adults and three children would qualify for a $6,000 stimulus check. But the price tag is a hefty $3 trillion.
The bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, where McConnell is looking for a lower price tag, around $1 trillion. Both sides are expected to renew negotiations soon.
Under the Cares Act, individuals were eligible for payments of up to $1,200, but that amount declined for those with an adjusted gross income higher than $75,000 a year. The $1,200 payment dropped by 5% of every dollar above $75,000, or $50 for every $1,000.
The benefit didn’t apply for individuals with incomes over $99,000.
Married couples with combined incomes of up to $150,000 received $2,400, subject to the same phase-out that applied to individuals. The payments were phased out entirely for couples making $198,000 or more. Families also got $500 per dependent child under the age of 16.

Treasury Secretary Backs ‘Another Round’ Of Coronavirus Stimulus Checks; When You Might See Some Cash

Stimulus

Trump Administration

On Thursday, The Hill’s Bob Cusack <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/498956-mnuchin-sees-strong-likelihood-of-needing-another-covid-19-relief">interviewed</a> Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Mnuchin stated that he believes another coronavirus stimulus bill is “likely.”
“2.4 million new jobless claims of unemployment this morning, several Senate Republicans said yesterday they want to see some action now on the next relief package,” Cusack said. “Is another package necessary, and if so, when?”
Mnuchin replied, first noting that he’s “very sympathetic to the people who are not working at no fault of their own because we&#8217;ve closed down the economy.”
“As we slowly reopen the economy in a safe way, we&#8217;ll get people back to work. And in the current CARES package, there&#8217;s several parts of it that are designed to help those American workers,” Mnuchin added, mentioning the PPP loans, the $1,200 stimulus checks, and the additional unemployment money, which he noted needs to be adjusted so as not to provide individuals with “more than they made” while working.
<blockquote>We&#8217;re gonna carefully review the next few weeks. I think there is a strong likelihood we will need another bill, but we just have $3 trillion we&#8217;re pumping into the economy, and we&#8217;re gonna step back for a few weeks and think very clearly how we need to spend more money and if we need to do that.</blockquote>
Later in the interview, after discussing the PPP loan program, as well as the need for China to “be held accountable,” they spoke about ongoing unemployment.
“CBO recently has predicted that unemployment will be 10% plus this year into next,” Cusack said. “Do you agree with that prediction?”
“Well, let me just comment – and this is nothing against CBO, and this is nothing against the rest of the economic models – we&#8217;re in an unprecedented situation,” Mnuchin responded. “This unemployment was not a result of bad economic issues; this is a result of medical issues. So I think it&#8217;s very hard to predict.”
<blockquote>A lot of it depends on the reopening of the economy, a lot of it depends on, as we make advances in virals, vaccines, in testing, and people feel comfortable. So I think the the economic models, quite frankly, follow the medical models, and I think it&#8217;s too premature to predict those things.</blockquote>
Mnuchin then noted that he does believe the second quarter will be “dreadful,” but that as the economy begins to reopen, the second quarter will be shown to be the bottom of the barrel, and “the third and fourth quarter will be better.”
<blockquote>As the president has said, and I have said, with the great advancement in medical progress in killing this virus, we expect our economy will be great again next year.</blockquote>
Cusack pressed Mnuchin on his rosy fourth quarter predictions, asking him if he is now “tempering expectations.”
Mnuchin replied that he isn’t tempering, and that “when you come off of a low number of closing down the economy, you&#8217;re gonna have very, very big increases. So yes, I think you&#8217;re gonna see a very large, call it a gigantic, increase in the fourth quarter.”
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According to the <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2020/05/21/covid-19-layoffs-unemployment-weekly-jobless-claims-2-4-million-people/">Labor Department</a>, approximately 38.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the wake of COVID-19 business closures.
COVID-19 has infected over 5 million people worldwide, and led to more than 329,800 deaths, <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6">according to data</a> from the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) Global Cases map. 1.9 million people have recovered.
In the United States, there have been more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and over 93,800 deaths. As of publication, 294,312 individuals have recovered from the virus.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

$100 bills.

Mnuchin: ‘Strong Likelihood We Will Need Another Bill’; Pushes Back On CBO Unemployment Estimates

Economy

Unemployment

With more reports surfacing of employees refusing to return to work due to the benefits of unemployment, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Tuesday that people who persist in staying home despite an offer to work will not be eligible for federal unemployment benefits.
“If you offer a person a job&#8230;and that person does not take the job&#8230;then that person would not be allowed to get unemployment,” Mnuchin said Tuesday, as reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mnuchin-says-employees-who-reject-offer-to-return-to-work-are-ineligible-for-unemployment-benefits">Fox News</a>.
The treasury secretary said that companies receiving benefits from the Payroll Protection Program should notify unemployment offices if the employee refuses to work. Fox News provided more details on the program and how employees have been earning more on unemployment than actually working:
<blockquote>Under the “Phase 3” economic stimulus package passed in March, also known as the CARES Act, Congress provided $250 billion to extend unemployment insurance to more workers, and lengthen the duration to 39 weeks, up from the normal 26 weeks. The provision allowed for an<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paid-to-quit-backlash-builds-against-unemployment-benefits-on-steroids"> extra $600 </a>to be provided a week for four months to those losing their jobs amid the crisis.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that about half of U.S. workers can earn more with these jobless benefits than they did while working &#8212; a factor that could hurt efforts by some businesses to reopen.
The stimulus package also provided an additional 13 weeks of unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits, as well as a supplemental payment of $600 per week for up to four months.</blockquote>
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/study-two-thirds-of-workers-who-lost-jobs-during-pandemic-are-getting-paid-more-on-unemployment">reported</a> by The Daily Wire&#8217;s Tim Pearce, nearly two-thirds of those out-of-work are actually getting paid more on unemployment, which has incentivized some to avoid returning to work.
&#8220;Economists Peter Ganong, Pascal Noel and Joseph Vavra at the University of Chicago estimate that most workers recently added to unemployment rolls are receiving more money in weekly checks from the government than they were making at their jobs, according to their <a href="https://bfi.uchicago.edu/insight/blog/ui-calculator/">report</a>,&#8221; Pearce wrote. &#8220;The disparity may lead to widespread economic consequences as employers attempt to restart small businesses that have been shut down for a month or more.&#8221;
As states reopen, Jeffrey Hirsch, professor at the University of North Carolina&#8217;s school of law, said that workers are being forced into tough position.
&#8220;The vast majority of workers are going to have to face a really tough choice,&#8221; Hirsch <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-unemployment-benefits-cares-workers-1500936">told Newsweek</a>. &#8220;For most workers dealing with this issue, such as blue workers who are being ordered to return to work, who have a fear of safety, they probably aren&#8217;t protected. The employer probably can order them to do that and a state could lawfully say, &#8216;if you refuse, you are not going to get unemployment benefits.'&#8221;
&#8220;Even if they have a decent legal claim, they probably don&#8217;t have the resources or the time to challenge it. They are stuck,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;They really are having to have to make a choice between whatever risk they feel going to work, versus losing their job, in an awful job market.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump Speaks On Small Business Paycheck Protection Program

Steve Mnuchin: Employees Who Reject Offer To Resume Work Ineligible For Unemployment

On Sunday, Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared on “Fox News Sunday” with host Chris Wallace to discuss the continuing economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well ways to “safely reopen the economy.”
Wallace first drilled into the reported unemployment numbers and the “real unemployment rate.”
“The official unemployment rate, as we just reported, for April is 14.7%, but that does not include the 7 million jobs lost since April 18th or the millions of workers not looking for jobs, or what are called the underemployed,” Wallace stated. “So, Mr. Secretary, what is the real unemployment rate in the United States as we talk today?”
Mnuchin responded by briefly speaking about the need to reopen the economy carefully, and mentioning that the reason for the high unemployment isn’t for lack of a strong economy, but “because we&#8217;ve shut down the economy.”
But Wallace wanted to get into the numbers.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics says, what they call the real unemployment number, for April, which again includes people who are not looking for work or underemployed, is 22.8%,” Wallace said, adding that those numbers don’t include those who have lost their jobs since mid-April.
“So, aren&#8217;t we talking close to 25% at this point, which is [in the] Great Depression neighborhood?” the host asked.
Mnuchin again emphasized that this economic downturn is unlike the Great Depression because the 2020 shutdown was a forced closure. “This is no fault of American business. This is no fault of American workers. This is a result of a virus,” the treasury secretary stated.
<blockquote>And that&#8217;s why the president and I were determined to put together the largest economic program ever to help American workers get through this. So, you are correct. The reported numbers are probably gonna get worse before they get better, but that&#8217;s why we&#8217;re focused on rebuilding this economy. We&#8217;ll have a better third quarter. We&#8217;ll have a better fourth quarter. And next year is gonna be a great year.</blockquote>
Wallace challenged Mnuchin’s outlook, saying that the job losses are “more widespread,” and that there are indicators that the economic recovery will not be as swift as predicted by President Trump and Mnuchin.
“The white collar and government sector, three million jobs lost, major retailers like Neiman Marcus and J.Crew declaring bankruptcy, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says unemployment at the end, not of this year, but of 2021, will still be 9.5%,” Wallace noted.
“Question: are your rosy predictions based on economic reality or the November election?” the host asked.
The treasury secretary responded first by saying that these aren’t “just numbers,” but “real people.”
Mnuchin continued, and pushed back on the question, saying that the models “haven’t worked in predicting what happens” in this very specific kind of situation:
<blockquote>My numbers aren&#8217;t rosy. What I&#8217;ve said is you&#8217;re gonna have a very, very bad second quarter, and then I think you&#8217;re going to see a bounce back from a low standpoint. None of the economic models have ever worked in predicting what happens when you close down due to medical reasons.
So, my predictions are based upon what I see is the rate of reopening in a careful way. It&#8217;s also based upon my views – and I&#8217;ve personally heard from many of the doctors that have vaccines and virals in trials and their expectations of being able to get a vaccine by the end of this year and having real viral treatments, the advent of testing.
All these things are going to help give American business and American workers the confidence to reopen in a careful and a deliberate way.</blockquote>
Wallace and Mnuchin then engaged in a discussion about the “food supply chain,” and the potential health consequences of reopening the economy. Wallace quoted Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker, who said that if the economy opens “too quickly,” and there’s a rebound in COVID-19 cases, “not only would this be a health catastrophe, but it would reverse the recovery as well.”
“Do you agree that there is a considerable risk – not to say you shouldn&#8217;t do it – but there is a considerable risk to reopening both from a public health and an economic standpoint?” Wallace asked.
Mnuchin countered by claiming that “there&#8217;s a considerable risk of not reopening” as it pertains to “permanent economic damage.” He added that the plan is to reopen with caution.
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The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Line for food pantry

Mnuchin: ‘A Considerable Risk’ In ‘Not Reopening,’ Potential ‘Permanent Economic Damage’

In a back and forth that has set social media ablaze, Guns N&#8217; Roses frontman and frequent Trump critic Axl Rose traded barbs with Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin Wednesday evening after an out of nowhere, contextless tweet by the rocker.
&#8220;It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a**hole,&#8221; Rose tweeted Wednesday evening without any reference to what action by Mnuchin inspired the post.
While the slam came out of left field, the response by the Treasury secretary was even more surprising. &#8220;What have you done for the country lately?&#8221; he replied in a post which initially included the Liberian flag, which looks like the U.S. flag but with just a single star. Mnuchin quickly replaced the post with the same comment but the correct flag.
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Noticing Mnuchin&#8217;s initial &#8220;false flag,&#8221; Rose responded, &#8220;My bad I didn’t get we’re hoping 2 emulate Liberia’s economic model.&#8221;
Rose then hinted at why he had taken aim at Mnuchin in his initial post. &#8220;[U]nlike this admin I’m not responsible for 70k+ deaths n’ unlike u I don’t hold a fed gov position of responsibility 2 the American people n’ go on TV tellin them 2 travel the US during a pandemic,&#8221; the &#8220;Sweet Child o&#8217; Mine&#8221; singer wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole.
&mdash; Axl Rose (@axlrose) <a href="https://twitter.com/axlrose/status/1258161648184905728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
My bad I didn’t get we’re hoping 2 emulate Liberia’s economic model but on the real unlike this admin I’m not responsible for 70k+ deaths n’ unlike u I don’t hold a fed gov position of responsibility 2 the American people n’ go on TV tellin them 2 travel the US during a pandemic.
&mdash; Axl Rose (@axlrose) <a href="https://twitter.com/axlrose/status/1258265406050951169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Washington Post, which published a bemused <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/07/axl-rose-mnuchin-coronavirus/">piece</a> on the bizarre Twitter feud, provides some context: On Monday, Mnuchin appeared on Fox Business Network, where he was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPYa_-HW-5k&amp;feature=youtu.be">asked</a> by host Maria Bartiromo about how soon international travel might pick back up. While it&#8217;s &#8220;hard to tell,&#8221; Mnuchin responded, he suggested that, in the meantime, Americans should take the opportunity to &#8220;explore America.&#8221;
&#8220;A lot of people haven’t seen many parts of America,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I wish I could get back on the road soon.&#8221;
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The entertaining feud prompted a flood of responses online, many cheering on Rose. &#8220;Axl vs Mnuchin is so 2020 and I AM HERE FOR IT,&#8221; wrote one of Rose&#8217;s 1.2 million followers. &#8220;Axl Rose dragging Steve Mnuchin is what I live for.&#8221;
&#8220;Good for U Axl. We need to Lock All Them Up,&#8221; wrote another. &#8220;The level of self-owning in the Trump Administration is staggering. Never knew Steve Mnuchin was the Treasury Secretary of Liberia,&#8221; wrote another, referencing the initial wrong flag emoji. &#8220;This is the Axl Rose I have loved since 1987,&#8221; wrote another fan.
But not everyone was on Rose&#8217;s side. &#8220;Axl Rose, world renowned financial expert weighs in on coronavirus relief efforts,&#8221; wrote <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/1258199149419192320">Mark Dice</a>.
&#8220;Just stick to singing really bad and showing up late,&#8221; wrote a Rose non-fan. &#8220;Wow good one Axl, I wonder what would happen if we put you in [Sec. Mnuchin]&#8217;s seat and you felt the immense pressure he just went through, would you perform to the same level?&#8221; wrote another. &#8220;Would you fold? Thanks [Sec. Mnuchin] the silent majority sees you!&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.  
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Axl Rose

‘He’s Officially An A–hole’: Axl Rose Sets Twitter Ablaze With Treasury Secretary Feud Over Pandemic

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday that he believes that the economy is going to bounce back quickly over the summer as states start to reopen.
&#8220;I think as we begin to reopen the economy in May and June, you’re going to see the economy really bounce back in July, August, September,&#8221; Mnuchin said. &#8220;And we are putting in a unprecedented amount of fiscal relief into the economy. You’re seeing trillions of dollars that’s making its way into the economy, and I think this is going to have a significant impact.&#8221;
When asked about models that show that the bounce-back will not happen as quickly as the administration is projecting, Mnuchin noted that the current crisis is unlike anything that has ever happened before, and so many of the models that are showing a slower bounce back may based on things that are not relevant to the current situation.
&#8220;This is not the Financial Crisis,&#8221; Mnuchin said. &#8220;This is a scenario where we’ve closed the economy and we’re going to open the economy. So, all these models are based upon health assumptions, how quickly we reopen, so we’ll see.&#8221;
&#8220;My own opinion is, again, we have unprecedented amount of liquidity in the system,&#8221; Mnuchin added. &#8220;We’re very sympathetic to all the people that are out of work. But there is enhanced unemployment, there’s the PPP, there’s direct deposits. This is going to put a lot of liquidity. And as businesses begin to open, you’re going to see demand side of the economy rebound.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Mnuchin on expectations for restarting economy, small business relief" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rcbz2GeSfSE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.  
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS SUNDAY ANCHOR: And joining us now Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who’s a member of the president’s Coronavirus Task Force. Mr. Secretary welcome back to Fox News Sunday.
STEVEN MNUCHIN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: Thank you Chris. It’s good to be back with you.
WALLACE: President Trump says that once the country reopens that we’re going to see a sharp quick recovery. Here he is this week.
(BEGIN CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We’re going to rebuild it and we’re going to rebuild it better and it’s going to go faster than people think. I built it once, I’ll built it a second time.
(END CLIP)
WALLACE: How sharp a recovery do you see? And how soon sir?
MNUCHIN: Well Chris I think as we begin to reopen the economy in May and June you’re going to see the economy really bounce back in July, August, September. And we are putting in a unprecedented amount of fiscal relief into the economy. You’re seeing trillions of dollars that’s making its way into the economy and I think this is going to have a significant impact.
WALLACE: But that quick bounce back that you talk about goes against the forecast of most experts. Take a look at these numbers sir. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office now projects GDP will shrink by 5.6 percent total this year. Unemployment will end 2020, they project, close to 12 percent. And your former company, Goldman Sachs, says the global hit will be four times worse than the 2008 Great Recession.
Question, are all those independent experts wrong?
MNUCHIN: Well Chris we’ve never seen anything like this. This is not the Financial Crisis. This is a scenario where we’ve closed the economy and we’re going to open the economy. So all these models are based upon health assumptions, how quickly we reopen, so we’ll see. My own opinion is, again, we have unprecedented amount of liquidity in the system. We’re very sympathetic to all the people that are out of work. But there is enhanced unemployment, there’s the PPP, there’s direct deposits. This is going to put a lot of liquidity. And as businesses begin to open you’re going to see demand side of the economy rebound.
WALLACE: Let’s talk about the PPP. The president just signed a bill that Congress had passed, another $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program. But the first round, I think it was $250/$300 billion, the sign-up for that ran out in 13 days. How long do you think this next tranche of $310 billion is going to last? And can you guarantee that big corporations, for instance like Ruth’s Chris that got money the first time around, eventually pay it back, but did get money won’t even get money this time?
MNUCHIN: Chris I just want to put this in perspective &#8212; and I want to thank everybody at the SBA and the Treasury because we launched a brand new program and in an incredibly short period of time. And the fact that we ran out of money just goes to show the success of this.
Now let me put this in perspective, in the first round over a million companies had workers of 10 people or below. And there has been a lot of focus on these bigger companies, public companies. We came out with new guidelines. We made it clear they shouldn’t have applied. They’re paying back the money. So I think you’re going to see this move in the right direction and I think you’re going to also see in this round the average loan size go down significantly.
WALLACE: But to my other question which was that the money for the first program lasted less than two weeks. How long do you expect this money to last?
MNUCHIN: Chris to me it’s not a matter of how long it lasts, the &#8212; actually I think the sooner the money is dispersed the better. So the first round impacted about 30 million workers. I think this round will be about the same. That will be close to 50 percent of the private workforce. So I actually hope we run out of money quickly so we can get the money into the workers’ pockets. And, again, in this round we’re making it clear that small businesses have access. We’ve signed up a lot of CDFIs. We’re signing up more of them. So we’re going to make sure that this is distributed fairly.
WALLACE: Congress is already talking, with all the money that’s already been dispersed, it’s talking about yet another relief bill. And one of the big issues there is whether or not to give $500 billion in relief to state and local governments so that they can continue to pay first responders and other workers and to provide services.
This week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo split sharply about that. Take a look sir.
(BEGIN CLIP)
MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route. It saves some cities.
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO, (D-NY): He says maybe the states should declare bankruptcy, OK? This is one of the really dumb ideas of all time.
(END CLIP)
WALLACE: Does the president support giving aid &#8212; hundreds of billion dollars to the states and what would the economic effect be if major states, like New York and Illinois, were to declare bankruptcy?
MNUCHIN: Chris I first want to just say, I really want to thank the Senate and the House for the unprecedented and bipartisan support. The bill first passed 96 to 0 and this one was unanimous consent in the Senate. So my comment on this is, this will be something that both the Senate and the House debate. It will be something that we discuss on a bipartisan basis.
The president has heard from governors. He wants to speak to governors. This is something we’ll consider. But our focus right now is really on execution and &#8212; that’s what we’re focused on and if we need more money &#8212; as I’ve said, this is a war. We’ll win this war, if we need to spend more money we will, and we’ll only do it with bipartisan support.
WALLACE: All right. Let me pick up on that last point because with all of the money that’s already gone out, the national debt will, by the end of this year, exceed the gross domestic product, the total output of the economy, it will be over 100 percent of GDP which has always been considered a kind of redline for stable economies. How much do you worry about a debt in excess of 100 percent of GDP?
MNUCHIN: Well Chris the good news is that interest rates are extremely low. So if you look at the portion of the budget that we’re actually allocating to interest it’s extremely low and we’re locking in long term rates to make sure this additional money we’ve locked up for a long period of time. Overtime that is something we’re going to need to look at and we’re going to need to look at overtime how we deal with that issue. But right now we’re in a war and we have to protect American workers and American business. And we’re going to do whatever we need to take to do that.
WALLACE: In the time we have left, I’d like to do a lightening round. I’ve done these with you before, quick questions, quick answers. We see states starting to reopen. If they reopen too quickly, if we see a spike in cases &#8212; a second spike, how damaging would that be to the economy?
MNUCHIN: I think we have to balance this in this time with the advent of testing &#8212; more testing, the advent of antibody testing, I think we’re going to be able to monitor this very, very carefully.
WALLACE: Will the administration bail out oil companies because, as you well know, there are some critics who say that yes there are problems that came from the coronavirus and the global drop but that a lot of problems of oil companies were of their own making before we ever got into this pandemic?
MNUCHIN: Chris let me be very clear, the president has said no bail outs to any companies, whether that was airlines or oil companies. We will consider, again, loans to companies in a proper scenario with strategic importance, but no bail outs. No shareholder bail outs.
WALLACE: And would you consider loans to oil companies?
MNUCHIN: That we would and we’re looking at it carefully. The Secretary of Energy and I are studying it and we’re looking at it very carefully.
WALLACE: Finally, some top Republicans are talking about going after China, to punish them for their failure to be much more transparent at the very start of this pandemic. And in fact the Attorney General of Missouri has already sued China. How do you balance on the one hand wanting to hold China accountable, to hold them responsible, but on the other hand we’re in the middle of a pandemic, we’re in the middle of a global economic crisis, wanting to protect global markets, especially global trade?
MNUCHIN: Well for the moment we need to work globally to conquer this virus. But the president’s made very clear, he wants to understand what China knew, when they knew it, and if they knew things that they didn’t turn over that could have stopped this he will hold them accountable.
WALLACE: So at this point can you see sanctions, strong economic action, against China?
MNUCHIN: Chris I think you know we never make comments on future sanctions options.
WALLACE: We’re going to leave it there. Secretary Mnuchin thank you. Thanks for your time this week and it’s always a pleasure to talk with you sir.
MNUCHIN: Thanks. Great to be back with you Chris.</blockquote>

Steven Mnuchin

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin: Economy Going To Quickly Bounce Back Over The Summer

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz unloaded on his Democratic colleagues on Friday in response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein sending a letter to President Trump declaring that she is &#8220;disappointed&#8221; in his administration&#8217;s plan to block funding to the world&#8217;s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. The Democrats&#8217; demand of Trump to help Iran get $5 billion in aid, Cruz noted, comes &#8220;at the exact same time&#8221; that they are &#8220;blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America.&#8221;
In late March, a group of Democratic lawmakers — among them Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), and Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin calling for the easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran during the coronavirus pandemic, a request that was dead on arrival. Iran has since requested $5 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In response to the Trump administration indicating that they have no intention of allowing the terror-sponsoring state to get the massive infusion of money, Sen. Feinstein sent her own letter on Thursday expressing her disappointment.
&#8220;The coronavirus has hit Iran hard, with the potential for even greater spread in the region,&#8221; the high-ranking Democratic senator tweeted Thursday along with a copy of her letter. &#8220;In the interest of international security, President Trump should support Iran’s request to the IMF for emergency funds to contain this virus.&#8221;
&#8220;I am disappointed to see reports that your administration intends to block Iran from receiving $5 billion in humanitarian aid from the IMF to combat the coronavirus pandemic,&#8221; the letter begins. &#8220;Providing these funds to Iran would help it respond more effectively to the disease and mitigate the risk of further destabilization in the region.&#8221; She goes on to urge Trump to reconsider so that the infamously tyrannical regime can receive the billions in aid from the IMF.
Feinstein&#8217;s letter was issued the same day that Senate Democrats blocked an urgent request from Sec. Mnuchin to increase the amount of cash in the emergency small business loan program recently established by Congress from $350 billion to $600 billion.
In response to the pair of moves, Cruz called out Feinstein and the Democrats for what he suggested were some backward &#8220;priorities.&#8221;
&#8220;The Ayatollah leads chants of &#8216;death to America.&#8217; He pledges to destroy America, which he calls &#8216;the Great Satan.&#8217; And Senate Dems want to send him millions???&#8221; Cruz tweeted. &#8220;At the EXACT SAME TIME, Senate Dems are blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Ayatollah leads chants of “death to America.” He pledges to destroy America, which he calls “the Great Satan.” And Senate Dems want to send him millions??? At the EXACT SAME TIME, Senate Dems are blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America. 😱 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Priorities?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Priorities</a> <a href="https://t.co/o44wqG9bOm">https://t.co/o44wqG9bOm</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1248719994424262656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
As the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/04/09/democrats-opt-for-blackmail-over-small-business-money/">New York Post&#8217;s editorial board</a> explains, instead of agreeing to the desperately needed increase in cash on Thursday, the Democrats &#8220;issued partisan demands&#8221;: &#8220;They insisted the new money include $60 billion for &#8216;community-based lenders&#8217; that serve minorities, women, nonprofits and other groups. And the bill also had to OK an immediate $250 billion for cities, states, hospitals, food stamps and other needs.&#8221;
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) explained in response that “everything is an opportunity.&#8221; This was an &#8220;opportunity&#8221; to address &#8220;disparities&#8221; she suggested are plaguing the country.
&#8220;And if they don’t get their way, no one gets a dime more,&#8221; the Post&#8217;s editorial board noted. &#8220;Never mind that businesses face bankruptcy or that 17 million people filed for jobless benefits in recent weeks.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-trump-pushing-behind-closed-doors-to-reopen-much-of-u-s-next-month">Report: Trump Pushing ‘Behind Closed Doors’ To Reopen Much Of U.S. Next Month</a>

Cruz Slams Feinstein: Trying To Send Millions To Iran, While Blocking Relief To American Businesses

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Bernie Sanders

Dianne Feinstein

Elizabeth Warren

Ilhan Omar

Iran

According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trump-reopen-us-economy/2020/04/09/10d42b4a-7a7b-11ea-9bee-c5bf9d2e3288_story.html">The Washington Post</a>&#8216;s sources, President Trump has been pushing &#8220;behind closed doors&#8221; to &#8220;reopen much of the country next month,&#8221; an effort the Post notes has some health experts sounding the alarm out of fear of a possible &#8220;resurgence&#8221; of COVID-19.
&#8220;Behind closed doors, President Trump — concerned with the sagging economy — has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions,&#8221; the Post reported Thursday.
&#8220;In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire, the people said,&#8221; the Post reports. &#8220;Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and reelection prospects, the people said.&#8221;
While the Post is relying on its unnamed sources about what Trump is doing behind the scenes, what he is doing in public is clear enough: He has repeatedly expressed a desire to reopen the country as quickly as is safely possible, based on the advice of the nation&#8217;s top health experts who are informing the Coronavirus Task Force.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fauci-were-on-track-for-more-normal-summer-mnuchin-likely-to-begin-reopening-in-may">The Daily Wire</a> reported, one of the key members of that task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation&#8217;s leading infectious disease expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS on Thursday that because of the “very good job” the nation is doing on social distancing measures, it is now “very likely” that by the end of the 30-day nationwide lockdown, we will be taking important steps toward “normalization” and, by summer, will have taken “many steps in that direction.”
Later that day, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is reportedly a member of a newly formed economy-focused task force, made a similar comment, saying we are on track to begin reopening the U.S. economy in May.
&#8220;When you say get back to ‘normal,’ it’s not going to be a light switch that you turn on and off. It’s going to be differential and gradual depending upon where you are and where the burden of infection is,&#8221; Fauci told &#8220;CBS This Morning&#8221; Thursday. “But the bottom line of it all is, that what we see looking forward, it is very likely that we will progress toward the steps toward normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days. And I think that’s going to be a good time to look and see how quickly can we make that move to try and normalize. But hopefully, and hopefully, by the time we get to the summer, we will have taken many steps in that direction.”
In an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC&#8217;s “Squawk on the Street,” Mnuchin said he could see the country beginning to reopen in May. “I think as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues,” said the Treasury secretary, noting that the Trump administration is doing “everything necessary” to help American businesses be “open for business” and “have the liquidity that they need to operate their business in the interim.”
In its report on Trump&#8217;s push to reopen the economy sooner rather than later, the Post stresses that health experts are warning about the potentially &#8220;disastrous&#8221; consequences of easing restrictions prematurely, &#8220;because U.S. leaders have not built up the capacity for alternatives to stay-at-home orders — such as the mass testing, large-scale contact tracing and targeted quarantines that have been used in other countries to suppress the virus.&#8221;
A particularly influential model in the nation&#8217;s response, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) model, which recently twice-downgraded its fatality projections by August from around 94,000 to 82,000 then down again to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-coronavirus-model-gets-updated-second-time-in-four-days-downgrading-deaths-hospitalizations-again">60,000</a>, assumes widespread &#8220;lockdown&#8221;-type measures until the end of May, the Post notes.
So far, about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unemployment-claims-top-6-million-for-second-straight-week-even-higher-than-predicted">17 million</a> Americans have filed for unemployment as a result of the widespread lockdowns.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nyt-calls-out-de-blasio-cuomo-for-coronavirus-failures-readers-thanks-for-finally-saying-something">NYT Calls Out De Blasio, Cuomo For Coronavirus Failures; Readers: Thanks For Finally Saying Something</a>

Report: Trump Pushing ‘Behind Closed Doors’ To Reopen Much Of U.S. Next Month

Anthony Fauci

Washington Post

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday that because of the &#8220;very good job&#8221; the nation is doing on social distancing efforts, it is now &#8220;very likely&#8221; that by the end of the 30-day nationwide lockdown at the end of April, we will be taking key steps toward &#8220;normalization&#8221; and, by summer, will have taken &#8220;many steps in that direction.&#8221; Later that day, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin echoed the sentiment from an economic angle, saying we are on track to begin reopening the U.S. economy in May.
In an interview with &#8220;CBS This Morning&#8221; Thursday, Dr. Fauci discussed the latest developments in the nation&#8217;s battle against the coronavirus pandemic, including significantly improved projections from one of the key models heavily influencing the nation&#8217;s approach to the virus, the University of Washington&#8217;s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) model, which recently downgraded its fatality projections by August from around 100,000 to around <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-coronavirus-model-gets-updated-second-time-in-four-days-downgrading-deaths-hospitalizations-again">60,000.</a>
Asked by co-host Toney Dokoupil if he could imagine people actually returning to beaches over the summer and experiencing some sense of normalcy, Fauci said that if recent trends continue, &#8220;it is very likely that we will progress toward the steps toward normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days&#8221; and, by the summer, &#8220;we will have taken many steps in that direction.&#8221;
&#8220;It looks like things are going to be improving,&#8221; said the infectious disease expert. &#8220;If you look at the curves that we talk about — we often talk about flattening the curve and then getting around the corner and coming down. If in fact we see that, and it will be differential, in different parts of the country. I mean, New York City, the terrible ordeal that they&#8217;ve gone through, is very different from some of the places in the middle of the country or the mountain regions. So when you say get back to &#8216;normal,&#8217; it&#8217;s not going to be a light switch that you turn on and off. It&#8217;s going to be differential and gradual depending upon where you are and where the burden of infection is.&#8221;
&#8220;But the bottom line of it all is, that what we see looking forward, it is very likely that we will progress toward the steps toward normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days,&#8221; Fauci continued. &#8220;And I think that&#8217;s going to be a good time to look and see how quickly can we make that move to try and normalize. But hopefully, and hopefully, by the time we get to the summer, we will have taken many steps in that direction.&#8221;
As reported by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-us-reopen-economy-anthony-fauci/">CBS News</a>, Fauci also made a point of stressing that despite the downgraded projections, &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to continue in many respects to redouble our efforts at the mitigation of physical separation in order to keep those numbers down and hopefully even get them lower than what you&#8217;ve heard recently.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
When asked by <a href="https://twitter.com/tonydokoupil?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TonyDokoupil</a> if he can envision a summer where we&#39;re returning to beaches, celebrations, etc., Dr. Fauci said yes, “if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence&quot; and &quot;identify, isolate, contact, trace,&quot; to avoid future spikes. <a href="https://t.co/FBExwKcjrY">pic.twitter.com/FBExwKcjrY</a>
&mdash; CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSMornings/status/1248216599708020736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As reported by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/treasury-secretary-mnuchin-says-us-could-be-open-for-business-in-may.html">CNBC</a>, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin made similarly hopeful comments the same day. Asked by &#8220;Squawk on the Street&#8221; host Jim Cramer if he believes we can start reopening the economy in May, Mnuchin said, &#8220;I do, Jim.&#8221;
“I think as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues,” he added, noting that the Trump administration is doing “everything necessary&#8221; to help American businesses be &#8220;open for business&#8221; and &#8220;have the liquidity that they need to operate their business in the interim.&#8221;
Mnuchin is reportedly one of the key members of a second Coronavirus Task Force President Trump is in the process of creating, which will be primarily focused on the task of reopening the country. According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-preparing-to-unveil-second-coronavirus-task-force-officials-say/2020/04/08/e0808922-7a05-11ea-b6ff-597f170df8f8_story.html">The Washington Post</a>, chief of staff Mark Meadows is likely to head up the new economic task force and will be joined by Mnuchin and national economic adviser Larry Kudlow.  &#8220;The goal is to get as much of the country as possible open by April 30, the current deadline Trump set for stringent social distancing measures,&#8221; the Post reported Thursday.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-forming-task-force-to-reopen-economy-key-members-named-follows-his-good-idea-tweet">Trump Forming Task Force To Reopen Economy; Key Members Named; Follows His ‘Good Idea’ Tweet</a>

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