The $349 billion program to help small businesses reeling from the COVID-19 outbreak could be exhausted by Thursday, a top White House adviser said, but negotiations in Congress to replenish it remain stalled, Bloomberg News reported. “At the present run-rate, we’re going to be out of money,” Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, said yesterday. As of mid-day yesterday, almost 1.1. million applications, totaling more than $257 billion, had been approved since the Small Business Administration program launched April 3. Trump and the GOP want to add another $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program, but Democrats have been holding out to expand the stimulus to include aid for state and local governments and hospitals. Despite the looming shortfall, there is no sign of negotiations between the administration and congressional leaders to break a deadlock over how to proceed. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) on yesterday tweeted to his followers, asking them to pressure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to support the added funding for small business and drop their additional demands. Pelosi and Schumer back the small business program funding, but want changes that ensure the pool of lenders extends well beyond big banks. They also want an additional $250 billion in aid for state and local governments as well as for hospitals in whatever Congress does next.
