PRESIDENT Donald Trump said on Friday that he plans to use an executive order to bypass Congress and provide benefits to jobless Americans.
With no deal reached between Democrats and Republicans on the latest coronavirus aid, Trump announced his own ideas for virus relief.
He said he’s going to extend payroll taxes and enhance unemployment benefits until the end of the year, while also deferring student loans until further notice.
“We’re going to have the payroll tax go until the end of the year and it will be retroactive to July 1st, so we will go back to July 1st and it will go to the end of the year payroll tax.
“At the end of the year it may be extended,” Trump said about payroll tax cuts. “We’re going to enhance unemployment benefits through the end of the year.
“So unemployment benefits, that’s a big one, will be brought out to the end of the year and defer student loan payments and forgive interests until further notice.”
The news comes after Trump tweeted on Thursday before his departure to Ohio that he notified his staff to “continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options.”
Trump made it clear that if policymakers do not agree on a second stimulus package, he will act.
“If Democrats continue to hold this critical relief hostage, I will act under my authority as president to get Americans the relief they need,” he said.
He said that the White House remains open to negotiations and continued to blame Democrats for not agreeing on the second stimulus package.
“[House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer continue to insist on radical left-wing policies that have nothing to do with the China virus,” he said from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“So, you have a virus that comes in, and you have people in Congress that don’t want to help poor people.”
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met with Pelosi and Schumer for several hours on Friday in an effort to reach an agreement.
According to Mnunchin, the disagreement comes in regard to the enhanced unemployment benefits and aid to state and local governments.
On unemployment benefits, the Heroes Act calls for a continuation of the $600 federal assistance until January 2021.
The Heals Act proposed by Senate Republicans calls for a $200 benefit, later replaced with a system to give the unemployed 70 percent of their prior income.
“Unfortunately, we did not make any progress today. We discussed the same issues,” Mnuchin told reporters after the meeting.
Given the outcome, he said he will suggest that Trump sign the executive orders over the weekend to halt evictions and potentially provide some form of unemployment assistance.
Mnuchin said it would take a “little bit of time” to finalize and process these actions, but the administration would work on it as soon as possible.
