WASHINGTON _ The government program designed to help small business weather the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic ran out of money Thursday and congressional leaders remained at a standoff over how to replenish the funds.
Over 12 days, the Small Business Administration spent the entire $349 billion that Congress previously authorized to spend on forgivable loans intended to help small businesses maintain their payroll and health coverage for employees.
Republicans want to authorize another $250 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program. But Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have balked at spending that money without ensuring that microbusinesses and disenfranchized companies are able to participate.
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin continued negotiations with Democrats and their staff members on Thursday ahead of a brief Senate session slated for Thursday afternoon. Because Congress is in recess now, legislation can only be passed during these brief sessions, and if there is no objection from a single lawmaker.
"We need to cut the crap and make this happen today," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., chairman of the Senate's small-business committee, said Thursday morning.
The PPP has tremendous bipartisan support. The political squabble over a second round of funding matched the partisanship in Congress during the passage of the sweeping, $2 trillion CARES Act, which was bogged down for days until it finally passed without objection.
Democrats say very small businesses or companies without an existing banking relationship have had particular trouble accessing the loans because banks have given preference to their existing customers.
"We don't want it to perpetuate the disparity of access to credit for some of our businesses," Pelosi said Thursday.
Democrats also want to tack on additional funding for the healthcare system and for state and local governments.
"We really need to recognize the danger that some people are in when they try to help us," Pelosi said, pointing to state and local government and health care workers. "We must have more resources placed."
Republicans say they would support such new spending, but want to prioritize the PPP because the funding is gone.
"It's absurd. This is ridiculous," Rubio said in a video. "Why do we have to hold the most successful part of the CARES Act, that's helping millions of people, hostage?"
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., cited the 5.2 million people who filed for unemployment in the past week as a key reason why the money should be approved immediately.
"I cannot understand after watching another 5 million get unemployed how Speaker Pelosi continues to say no. It's just unheard of. A program that is working that only provides the small businesses to stay afloat, to keep their people hired," McCarthy said. "All it simply takes is the Democrats to say yes, I don't know what more that it takes. You got 5 million reasons today."
