Larry Kudlow Pumps the Brakes on Another Wuhan Coronavirus Stimulus Bill

Katie Pavlich | April 06, 2020 1:30 PM

Speaking to reporters outside of the White House Monday morning, Director of the United States Economic Council Larry Kudlow pumped the brakes on a fourth stimulus package and urged patience as the current $2 trillion relief plan goes into effect.

"I think we've all said, the president has said, Secretary Mnuchin has said, I've said, particularly for the payroll protection program, if we need more money, we'll seek more money," Kudlow said. "I'm just saying, 'if.' Big 'if.' We've got a great start on that, a lot of loans."

"$38 billion and it's 130,000 loans from 2,400 lenders, big banks included, a lot of it's community banks," he continued. "Let's see what happens. Our job is to execute what we've got. So you've got assistance going out to 175 million people. I keep using that stat only because for somebody like me, who's been around a while, it's unbelievable: government assistance, 175 million people."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been urging Congress to put together a fourth "stimulus package" packed full of leftist agenda items under the guise of Wuhan coronavirus relief.

Conference Chairman @SenJohnBarrasso:

If we have a Phase 4, we ought to stick with bipartisan things that work.

Things we need to rebuild the country.

NOT the sort of things that Speaker Pelosi is trying to bring to the table that would take our country in the wrong direction. pic.twitter.com/Gk4SaSltkR
— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) April 6, 2020

When asked about timing on reopening the economy, Kudlow argued the faster that happens - safely - the easier it will be for things to "snap back."

"The sooner we begin to reopen, the faster that snapback's going to be. That's the rule of thumb that I think most economists would agree with. Again, as I've said, we came into this with a very strong economy. It got interrupted by the virus, if that's the right word, and if this can be stabilized fairly soon, yes I do think we'll see a snapback. That may be more of a prayer than a hope, I understand that, but that's my view. I'm an optimist. I can't help it," Kudlow said.

During recent Wuhan coronavirus task force briefings, President Trump has argued a shutdown of the economy cannot last and that directives for certain portions of the country to reopen, with social distancing measures still in place, are coming soon.