12.1.20
With several of the Fed’s COVID-19 emergency lending programs expiring at the end of December, there are several possibilities about what could happen next. If no change is made, then any unused funds will be moved into a general fund that is inaccessible to any future Treasury Secretary. Biden’s Treasury Secretary could use the opportunity to directly restart the program since only a vote of five governors on the Fed’s board is required. Biden’s Treasury Secretary could also restart the program using funding from the CARES Act. While the legality question of this is still being debated, taking this approach could have political costs as Senate Banking Chair Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) stated that this approach “would more than poison the well with this administration.”