As Republicans and Democrats debate over the provisions of the next COVID-19 relief bill, President Donald Trump said that his administration is drafting an executive order to extend several pandemic safeguards.
“Upon departing the Oval Office for Ohio, I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Upon departing the Oval Office for Ohio, I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2020
Previously, the president said that he may have to take direct action to re-enable a federal moratorium on evictions that was passed in the CARES Act several months ago, suspend payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security, and extend unemployment benefits that expired on July 31.
“Eviction is a big problem” that is “very unfair to a lot of people,” Trump said in a news conference on Wednesday evening. He reiterated that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic originated in China.
In the news conference, Trump also suggested that he will extend the $600-per-month unemployment benefits for an unspecified period of time. Those were also included in the CARES Act.
Regarding the suspension of the payroll tax, Trump said that “many economists” on “our side” support the measure, although it doesn’t have much support from Republicans or Democrats in Congress.
Trump appeared to take issue with a provision in the House-passed HEROES Act that would grant $1 trillion in funds to state and municipal governments.
The president described it as a “$1 trillion bailout” for “poorly run states … and cities.” He said that “they’ve been poorly run for a number of years,” saying that it is not “COVID-related.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have been meeting on a daily basis since last week. Pelosi and Schumer have said that the talks have been positive, although Meadows told reporters on Thursday that a deal likely will not be made in the near future.
But Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the majority leader of the Senate, said that he believes there will be a deal “at some point in the near future” but isn’t sure “exactly when.”
McConnell said in an interview on Thursday: “The argument is over how much [aid] is appropriate at this particular juncture.” McConnell, meanwhile, said that he will have to rely on Senate Democrats and some Republican senators to pass a bill because some GOP lawmakers oppose even a $1 trillion bill.
