Mnuchin says deal 'very close' on billions more for small-business loans

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday a deal with Democrats to replenish an emergency small-business loan program is "very close" and Congress could approve additional funding for the program this week.The program designed to keep paychecks going out to workers amid the economic shutdown caused by coronavirus was paused Thursday after it burned through its initial $350 billion."I think we're very close to a deal today, and I'm hopeful that we can get that done," Mnuchin said on CNN's "State of the Union." He said the deal could be approved by the Senate on Monday and the House could vote on it by Wednesday. "We're not going afield in any other thing." Though Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have touted the testing capacity of the USA as the best in the world, Mnuchin said Sunday there is wide agreement that more testing needs to be available for the country to safely begin to reopen under the three-phase plan outlined by the president last week. And that is ramping up very quickly." Schumer said Democrats asked for $30 billion to boost the manufacturing of the tests, increase the availability of the supplies needed to conduct the tests and "make free testing far more widespread." Trump suggested the states should be responsible for their own testing, but Schumer said governors "need federal help" and "can't do the testing on their own." According to Schumer, when the president spoke to business leaders about what was needed to reopen the country, "the number one call was for more testing and more federal involvement in the testing.