MNI BRIEF: Yellen Says U.S. Recovery Has a Long Road Ahead

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday the U.S. faces a "long road" to economic recovery, but expressed optimism that Americans will "make it to the other side of the pandemic."

Yellen's comments in written testimony before a House of Representatives subcommittee which has jurisdiction over the Treasury Department's annual budget come as she is requesting a boost to the agency's funding for offices and programs essential to implementing the Biden administration's goals. "The speed and strength of our recovery – and our economy, long-term – depend on a fully funded Treasury," she said.

The Biden administration will release its formal fiscal year 2022 budget request Friday, and is reportedly set to seek from Congress USD6 trillion in 2022 with total spending to rise to USD8.2 trillion by 2031. The spending growth would be driven by Biden's two-part agenda to upgrade the nation's infrastructure and substantially expand the social safety net, contained in his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, along with other planned increases in non-defense discretionary spending.