In tense exchange over bailouts, Elizabeth Warren accuses Steve Mnuchin of putting 'Wall Street Buddies' before US workers

"We're in a situation where 35 million Americans have filed for unemployment. You're in charge of nearly half a trillion dollars... and you are leaving the American people behind."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday accused Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin of looking out for his friends on Wall Street instead of U.S. workers after the former Goldman Sachs banker repeatedly refused to say whether he would require companies that receive coronavirus bailout funds to keep their employees on payroll.

"Giant companies with ready access to a menu of multi-trillion-dollar programs have no restrictions on using the money to support workers. We're bailing out capital, investors, and executives. That's it."

—David Dayen, The American Prospect

The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out during a virtual Senate Banking Committee hearing that the CARES Act—which President Donald Trump signed into law in March—gives Mnuchin and the Federal Reserve broad authority to determine what, if any, conditions are attached to taxpayer bailouts.

When Mnuchin said that the CARES Act airline bailout program contained "very specific requirements to keep jobs," Warren replied, "That's right, and the rest was left up to you, and what you're saying is that you won't do it."

"We're in a situation where 35 million Americans have filed for unemployment," Warren continued. "You're in charge of nearly half a trillion dollars. You're boosting your Wall Street buddies and you are leaving the American people behind."

Watch: