⁍ As much as $380 billion from the U.S. Congress’ last big coronavirus aid package is unused.

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⁍ That is far short of the $500 billion to $1 trillion many economists had expected in new fiscal stimulus for the flagging recovery.

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⁍ Rising tensions between Republicans and Democrats have made a new relief package ahead of the Nov. 3 election look increasingly unlikely.

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– Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says as much as $380 billion from a $2.3 trillion aid package authorized by Congress in March as part of a $2.3 trillion aid package but not yet spent could go a long way to tide over businesses and keep people who have lost work from losing their homes. “It would not cost an extra penny,” Mnuchin told members of the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing on Capitol Hill, where he appeared jointly with Fed chief Jerome Powell, per Reuters. Congress would need to give permission for reshuffling the money, he said. The unused money, authorized by Congress in March as part of a $2.3 trillion aid package but not yet spent, could go a long way to tide over businesses and keep people who have lost work from losing their homes. “The risk is they will go through that money, ultimately, and have to cut back on spending and maybe lose their home or their lease,” Powell said. Without further government aid, he said, “we will see, sooner or later, probably sooner, we will see that the economy has a harder time sustaining the growth that we’ve seen, that’s the risk.” The focus on reallocating unused sums from the earlier stimulus package has emerged as Congress remains deadlocked over providing new fiscal relief less than six weeks before Election Day. Mnuchin told senators that he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had agreed to discuss stimulus further. Asked by reporters Thursday if she had heard from Mnuchin, Pelosi said, “I don’t know if we have a call today or not.”