Paycheck Protection Program

• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration doesn’t plan to release information about borrowers that receive money through the Paycheck Protection Program, saying that the names of companies and how much they received in many cases are “proprietary” and “confidential.” However, the loan applications state that such data will automatically be released, and the Small Business Administration has previously said that loan-specific information would be publicly available. 

Federal Reserve

• In response to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s warning of a long road to economic recovery, President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the Fed is “wrong so often” and predicted that the economy would bounce back in the third and fourth quarters. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on the Fox Business Network that Trump’s criticism doesn’t mean that he disagrees with the Fed’s policy but advised Powell to “lighten up a little” in press conferences and give “a smile now and then, a little bit of optimism.”

• After the Fed held its two-day policy meeting, all 17 officials participating in the interest rate-setting meetings said they expect to keep rates near zero next year and 15 of them predicted that rates would stay near zero through 2022. Most officials expect the unemployment rate to hit averages of 9 percent to 10 percent in the last three months of the year and projected that the economy could shrink between 4 percent and 10 percent this year.

• The Fed said it is expanding its Main Street Lending Program, lowering the minimum loan amount to $250,000, half the previous amount, and raising the maximum to up to $300 million from the previous $200 million, depending on the facility. The central bank is also extending the repayment period to five years from four years and will allow businesses to defer principal payments for the loan’s first two years instead of one year.

Stimulus

• Some Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are considering a measure for the next economic stimulus package that would allow companies to “cash out” on federal tax credits this year that they would normally not be eligible for until a future date, four people with knowledge of the deliberations said. The proposal would eliminate a limit that forces companies to roll over tax credits to other years if the credits are larger than their overall tax liability.

• Mnuchin said in a Senate Small Business Committee hearing that Trump administration officials want to work on another economic aid package, which could include tax credits and changes to the PPP, but that it should be narrowly tailored to small businesses and certain hard-hit industries, such as the travel, leisure and restaurant industries. Mnuchin also said officials are considering whether to issue additional direct payments to boost the economy.

• Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said at a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee that he is against extending the $600 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits when it expires in July benefits. Scalia’s comments come after a better-than-expected May jobs report, and he said that in July the “opportunity for people to return to work will be far greater.” 

• An analysis of 60 of the largest hospital chains shows that they have collectively received more than $15 billion in emergency funding through the CARES Act but at least 36 of those chains have laid off, furloughed or cut employees’ pay. In total, the hospitals hold tens of billions in cash reserves, and their five highest-paid officials earned about $874 million in the most recent year for which financial figures are available, while workers at these hospitals said the pay cuts and furloughs made it more difficult for medical workers to take care of patients.

Regulators

• Brian Brooks, new acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, liquidated $4.6 million in Coinbase Inc. stock options when he left the exchange as its chief legal officer earlier this year and joined the government, according to financial disclosures. Brooks, who isn’t required yet to take the ethics pledge that would limit his ability to work as a lobbyist after the OCC but who has submitted a letter with companies he will avoid working with because of conflicts of interest, has said that he wants to open up banking charters to technology companies during his time at the OCC.

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Brooks urging him to withdraw new Community Reinvestment Act rules, which were put in place by his predecessor, Joseph Otting, shortly before Otting left the agency. Warren also asked that Brooks not be involved in future CRA rule-making because of his work with Otting at OneWest Bank. 

• The Senate is in session and the House is operating remotely.

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will give his semiannual monetary report to Congress, testifying in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

• Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles will speak at a Women in Housing & Finance event on Friday.

1) Hospitals Got Bailouts and Furloughed Thousands While Paying C.E.O.s Millions
Jessica Silver-Greenberg et al., The New York Times

2) Mnuchin backs push for more emergency economic relief
Zachary Warmbrodt, Politico

3) The Economic Pain That the Unemployment Rate Leaves Out
Alicia Parlapiano, The New York Times

4) A ‘misclassification error’ made the May unemployment rate look better than it is. Here’s what happened.
Heather Long, The Washington Post

5) IRS Rules Target Coaches at Duke, Notre Dame, Hospital Chiefs
Samuel McQuillan and Laura Davison, Bloomberg

6) Fed expands Main Street program to allow for both smaller and bigger loans
Jeff Cox, CNBC

7) The Looming Bank Collapse
Frank Partnoy, The Atlantic

8) Crash Lesson No. 1? Don’t Ignore the Fed’s Gusher
John Authers, Bloomberg

9) New OCC Chief Cashed $4.6 Million in Coinbase Stock for U.S. Job
Jesse Hamilton, Bloomberg

10) Hassett Sees Another Stimulus Bill From Congress Before August Recess
Paul Kiernan, The Wall Street Journal