Treasury has not disbursed $46B in airline support: oversight panel

The Treasury Department has yet to disburse any of the $46 billion Congress allocated for airlines, according to a congressional oversight report released Monday.

The $2.2 trillion CARES Act, passed in March, included a special $46 billion allocation aimed primarily at rescuing airlines. Of that, $25 billion was for passenger airlines, $4 billion was for cargo carriers and another $17 billion was earmarked for businesses “critical to maintaining national security,” widely seen as money directed at aerospace company Boeing.

In the seven weeks that passed since President Trump signed the CARES Act into law, not a single cent has been sent out through that mechanism, the report found.

“The Treasury has not disbursed any of the $46 billion it can use to provide loans and loan guarantees to the airline industry and businesses critical to maintaining national security,” the report said, adding that it also has yet to approve any of the applications for the loans or loan guarantees.

Treasury was quicker to move on supporting the airline industry through another program, the Payroll Support Program, which was intended to prevent mass layoffs.

The report is the first from the Congressional Oversight Commission, which includes Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), and Bharat Ramamurti, a former adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

It is required to submit reports every 30 days assessing how the administration is using a $500 billion pot of money, which largely is designated for use with Federal Reserve lending facilities, and how effective its use is.