Congress in March 2020 passed legislation to assist individuals and businesses hurt by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The bill increased unemployment insurance coverage, authorized cash payments to eligible individuals and funded loans to small businesses to help keep employees on their payrolls. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that 3.8 million loans had been processed by May 1. The Treasury told a reporter for Yahoo that as of May 4 more than 120 million people had received direct payments.
The Treasury department has also authorized $500 billion in financial support to businesses that have significant U.S. operations with a majority of their employees in the U.S.