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 agency that supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has pushed for revising an agreement with the Treasury Department allowing the mortgage giants to retain their profits. A deal could be out of reach once Joe Biden takes office.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the Federal Reserve Thursday to let several of its emergency lending facilities expire at yearend and return unused funds provided by Congress. But the central bank wants the programs to continue.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council said the mortgage giants may need a bigger capital cushion than their regulator has proposed, but stopped short of designating them as “systemically important financial institutions.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s search for a Treasury secretary is widely seen as focusing on Brainard, a choice that would keep both Wall Street and progressives in line.

Capping a series of appearances on Capitol Hill this week, the Federal Reserve chair and Treasury secretary emphasized that they don’t have the authority to reallocate CARES Act funds to assist small businesses on their own.

Commercial real estate companies are among those left out of the Federal Reserve’s middle-market relief program, but House members said they need government-backed financing to navigate the pandemic as much as anyone.

Many employers aren't enthusiastic about an executive action that allows workers to delay paying certain taxes until next year.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did not define "small," but advocates have been urging Congress to convert all Paycheck Protection Program loans of less than $150,000 into grants.

The council created by the Dodd-Frank Act to identify systemic risks launched a review of the market as part of an activities-based approach that shifts focus away from targeting individual firms.