MNI BRIEF: Fed Will Return Unused Money To Treasury- Powell

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday the Fed will return unused CARES Act money originally purposed for emergency lending facilities back to the government as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested.

"We will work out arrangements with you for returning the unused portions of the funds allocated to the CARES Act facilities in connection with their year-end termination," Powell wrote in a letter released Friday. On Thursday, Treasury announced it supported closing some emergency lending facilities and requested the unused cash.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have remained divided along party lines about the announcement from Treasury, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Biden transition team critical of the Trump administration move. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Friday said it is "right" to repurpose the hundreds of billions of dollars toward "urgent, important, and targeted relief measures."