US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has recently faced harsh criticism from the Senate over his decision not to renew some emergency landing programs. Earlier this year, the US Federal Reserve introduced several credit programs aimed at supporting businesses and state and local governments. However, Steven Mnuchin announced he would not extend the existing loan programs the following year. This decision sparked outrage from Democratic senators during a hearing in early December. Thus, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said Mnuchin was trying to “sabotage” the economy as Trump's administration is leaving office. “There is no legitimate justification for it,” he stressed. The Treasury Secretary, on the other hand, replied that he was only complying with the law and added that it was not an economic decision. Steven Mnuchin then explained that he did not have the authority to allow the programs in question to run past the end of the year. Notably, some of the lending facilities were very lightly used. This reasoning did not convince his opponents, though. Democrats insisted that the end of the emergency lending programs “will have real and harmful consequences on our recovery, on our businesses, on American workers."
