The GOP’s anti-stimulus rallying cry: What happened to the unspent $1 trillion?

Source: Politico | February 27, 2021 | Megan Cassella

Much of the aid money was designed to be spent gradually, economists say. And the country still needs more.

Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden’s economic relief proposal have settled on a central line of attack: Congress shouldn’t spend more money when $1 trillion in aid allocated last year hasn’t even been doled out.

It’s a criticism meant to underscore their argument that the resurgent U.S. economy doesn’t need another giant influx of cash, and certainly not the $1.9 trillion package that Biden is seeking — a view that some Democrats like former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers also embrace.

“Is it not too much to ask what the current administration plans to do with the $1 trillion in unspent taxpayer funds, especially before we toss another $2 trillion onto that pile?” said Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.). “This is a basic question that would come up during a family budget discussion, with a lot less zeroes.”

GOP lawmakers are seeking to stoke public concern over the extraordinary levels of federal support: $4 trillion in aid enacted last year, almost $2 trillion more about to be approved, and another multitrillion-dollar proposal expected in the coming months. It’s a strategy that worked a decade ago, when deficit fears spawned the Tea Party movement, which eventually stalled much of President Barack Obama’s agenda.

But congressional Democrats, the White House and many economic experts argue that even as money continues to get to unemployed Americans, small businesses, cities and schools, it’s clear that they and the broader economy require more.

“Just because there’s money unspent doesn’t mean there aren’t still needs,” said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that set up the COVID Money Tracker to follow the aid as it goes out.

At this point, most of that unspent money — comprehensive estimates place the figure at $1 trillion — has been assigned to various programs that were designed to distribute it over an extended period of time.

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