Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., commented on her recent exchange with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during her appearance on "The View" Friday.
On Dec. 2 during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Porter pressed Mnuchin over his support of moving $455 billion in COVID-19 relief from the Federal Reserve into the Treasury's general fund. This transfer would make it difficult for the next Treasury Secretary, which is presumed to be former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, to gain access to the emergency funding as it would require Congressional authorization.
Prior to the hearing, Mnuchin faced backlash from Senate Democrats over his decision to end several Federal Reserve emergency loan programs financed through the CARES Act. Under the CARES Act, only "on or after Jan. 1, 2026" can remaining funds be moved to the Treasury.
Porter began her questioning to Mnuchin in the hearing by asking him if it's the year 2026, to which he replied, "Of course it's not 2026. How ridiculous to ask me that question to waste our time."
Porter responded that she believes "it's ridiculous" that Mnuchin is "play-acting to be a lawyer" when he has "no legal degree."
After Mnuchin explained the he's taking legal counsel from lawyers at the Department of the Treasury, he questioned Porter's credentials, asking "Are you a lawyer?"
Along with being a congresswoman since 2019, Porter graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude and was a law professor at University of California, Irvine, prior to being elected into the House.
Friday on "The View," Porter shared her reaction to the heated exchange with Mnuchin.
"It's unfortunate that he chose to question my credentials," Porter said. "[We were] really trying to have a conversation on behalf of the American people about why he's trying to make it harder for our economy to recover from COVID-19. That's what he's doing."
"He's trying to hide behind his legal interpretation, and he doesn't even have a real legal opinion from his supposed legions of lawyers to do this," the congresswoman added.
"It's unfortunate that he chose a personal attack, but I'll tell you, it's not the first time that a man has underestimated me, and it probably won't be the last," Porter continued. "It doesn't usually go that well for them. You can ask Ben Carson or Jamie Diamond about that."
In May 2019, Porter's exchange with Housing Secretary Ben Carson took the internet by storm when she asked Carson to explain disparities in REO rates.
REO refers to "real estate-owned properties," which are typically homes owned by banks in foreclosure.
Carson didn't seem to hear her and responded: "An Oreo?"
"No, not an Oreo," Porter said. "An R-E-O."
"Real estate?" he asked.
When Porter asked what the "O" stood for, Carson responded "organization," so she went on to explain the term.
Porter continued to explain why she was against Mnuchin's attempt to move $455 billion in COVID-19 relief to the Treasury's funds.
"This money was designated by Congress to make sure that we can stabilize our economy, and taking it away from the federal reserve just creates more potential delay and more potential risk. It's the last thing our economy needs," Porter said.
"We should keep the money there so we can put it to use helping state and local governments, which is gonna be all the more important if Congress doesn't pass a full, robust COVID relief package," she added.
His proposal comes after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested gutting something Republicans have been trying to secure -- liability protections for schools, hospitals and businesses -- and something Democrats want to include -- aid to state and local governments -- from a separate bipartisan proposal, threatening to derail the effort.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the offer "unacceptable" in a joint statement, saying it cuts funding allocated in the bipartisan bill for unemployment insurance.
Porter doubled down on placing blame on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for stalled COVID-19 relief packages because of disagreements on a liability shield for businesses Friday on "The View."
"This is simply about Senator McConnell giving something to ... the big corporation lobby," Porter said. "It's about this liability issue that Senator McConnell seems uniquely hung up on."
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