Mnuchin’s Partnership With Fed Over Virus Blurs Agency Lines

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has forged a crisis partnership with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, giving the central bank a bigger role in U.S. fiscal policy and blurring the lines between the agencies as they unleash $4.5 trillion in stimulus to combat the coronavirus.

Mnuchin and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell work together on the coronavirus rescue “round the clock,” according to the Treasury secretary. Already, the 106-year-old central bank is lending directly to main street businesses for the first time since the Great Depression.

Jerome Powell and Steven Mnuchin

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Some analysts and former government officials see an erosion of the Fed’s traditional independence ...