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As the Treasury Department declines to rule out a US guarantee for the $20 billion private-sector loan it’s coordinating for Argentina, congressional Democrats are worried about the risk.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters the Trump administration was looking at a “private-sector solution” to Argentina’s debt last week as part of “an economic Monroe Doctrine” ahead of this weekend’s election. Few details have emerged since, driving GOP lawmakers to demand more information even as they expressed support for a separate $20 billion currency swap. Banks, meanwhile, are seeking guidance on collateral so they can decide whether to put up the funds.
The lack of answers is fueling Democratic fears that the administration might commit to backstopping the loan facility itself.
“That just means American taxpayers are on the hook for a lot more than even the $20 billion” currency swap, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Semafor. “We’re trying to find that out.”
A Treasury spokesperson told Semafor on Tuesday that “discussions on this facility remain ongoing, and we look forward to sharing more details once these talks are complete.”
The top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, told Semafor she expects banks will eventually receive some kind of assurance from the White House.
“Why would banks lend into such a volatile situation without a guarantee from the government, whether that guarantee is explicit or a ‘wink-wink, nod-nod’?” Warren said.
Republicans said they remained equally in the dark. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Bill Hagerty, R-La., all told Semafor they still had no insight into how the loan might be structured.
“I trust Scott Bessent, but I don’t have the details — and when I get the details, I’ll comment on it, but I’m not going to speculate,” Kennedy said.
Whether it would be a good idea for the US to guarantee the loan “depends on what’s in the rest of the deal,” Rounds said. “And I don’t have the details for what’s in the rest of the deal.”
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Republicans were more vocal Tuesday about another form of aid to Argentina: Trump’s recent suggestion that the US start importing the country’s beef, which farm-state lawmakers fear could wallop cattle-rancher constituents.
Senators said they raised their concerns to Trump and to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who subsequently announced that the USDA would “resume Farm Service Agency core operations” later this week.
The administration also assured senators that “the amount that they’re talking about is a very minimal amount, so I felt better after that,” Rounds said. He added that “we also told them that this gives us an opportunity to promote mandatory country-of-origin labeling.”
“Then American consumers could decide: Do I want to buy beef that’s Argentinian, or do I want to buy beef that’s American?”
