Mnuchin says ‘we are very close to a deal today’ on small business package

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he’s hopeful that an agreement with Democratic congressional leaders could be reached Sunday on a small business package stalled in Congress.

“I think we’re very close to a deal today. I’m hopeful that we can get that done,” Mnuchin told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

The funding is needed to continue a program for small businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis that ran out of funding last week.

Mnuchin said he believes another small business package could allocate $300 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $50 billion appropriated for disaster loans, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion to invest in testing.

“I’m hopeful that we can reach an agreement that the Senate can pass this tomorrow, and that the House can take it up on Tuesday. Wednesday, we would be back up and running.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.