Steven Mnuchin

A federal watchdog is looking into former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s decision to roll back the U.S. Federal Reserve’s emergency lending programs at the end of 2020, an issue that has become a point of partisan tension in Congress.

The Federal Reserve has returned about $42 billion to the U.S. Treasury, and will soon transfer another $20 billion in excess funds connected to emergency lending facilities that stopped offering new loans last month.

The Federal Reserve said Friday it would comply with a Treasury Department request to return unused funds meant to backstop five emergency lending programs, moving to tamp down a public rift that arose a day earlier.

Analysts, issuers and lawmakers have mixed responses to the closure of the Municipal Liquidity Facility with some saying the move puts the municipal market in a precarious spot as COVID-19 continues to ravage the country.

While the facilities' availability inspired market confidence, the fact that $455 billion remains unused suggests shutting down the programs is unlikely to cause major problems, analysts say.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fed Chair Jerome Powell to end most emergency lending programs created earlier this year, including the MLF, on Dec. 31.

The request for a second municipal lending facility was made in a bipartisan letter sent to the Fed last week by four senators.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that the U.S. government will face a default in “late summer” unless Congress increases the debt ceiling.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dinner on Monday with President Donald Trump was “casual” and “productive,” and may happen again, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

President Trump expressed confidence in the Treasury secretary, Federal Reserve and U.S. economy on Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dismissed the economic significance of a flattening yield curve that some investors see as potential precursor to a U.S. recession.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin privately asked bond dealers and investors whether they want the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy by raising interest rates or through faster cuts in its securities portfolio.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested on Sunday it was fine for the Federal Reserve to be raising interest rates.

Bradley Wendt, a former investment banker with extensive experience in municipal bonds, interest rate swaps, and other fixed income products, joins Treasury's Office of Domestic Finance.

Mnuchin will hand-deliver documents related to the loan in his first visit to the territory as a public official, he said.

President Donald Trump is seeking a qualified candidate and not necessarily a Ph.D. economist to serve as Federal Reserve chairman nominee Jerome Powell’s vice-chair.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hasn’t yet decided whether she’ll stay at the central bank in a diminished role when her term as chair ends in February, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

Jerome Powell wasn’t a lock to be President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve.

While he would prefer if Congress raised Treasury's borrowing limit before its August break, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a televised interview, even if a deal is not reached, the government will be "fine" until they return in September.

The estimate echoes an assurance Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave reporters Friday in Ottowa.