It seems to have gone largely unnoticed that Mnuchin has unilaterally altered the Paycheck Protection Program to substantially reduce loan forgiveness. Law says a business can spend ~50% of the loan on nonpayroll and still receive full forgiveness; Mnuchin says not more than 25%.

To be clear, Mnuchin’s change doesn’t help employees. Law says total pay can’t be reduced by more than 25% of an employee’s full quarter salary or wages. He doesn’t touch this.

Regardless, Mnuchin has no authority to change laws. Congress legislates; executive officials execute.

The math is a bit tricky, so I think that’s why many people are not immediately seeing what’s going on here. A covered loan is 2.5x average monthly payroll. The covered period is 8 weeks. Compare the law to Mnuchin.