Newsman: President Donald Trump has signed a $2.3 trillion package that combines Covid-19 relief with government funding as he backtracked Sunday.
In a statement announcing that he had signed the relief bill while claiming that both chambers of Congress would begin the process of meeting some of his demands, Trump said he had “told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child.”
He continued: “As President I am demanding many rescissions under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.”
“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill,” Trump said.
Trump said in his statement Sunday evening that the House would vote Monday to increase the amount to $2,000 for individuals and that the Senate would likewise “start the process.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement that Trump’s signature was “welcome news,” and she called on Trump to encourage Republicans to “end their obstruction” and support House Democrats’ standalone effort to boost direct payments.
In his own statement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made no mention of any of the promises Trump ascribed to the chamber, including any possible vote on increasing the payment amount.
Instead, McConnell thanked Trump and praised him for his “leadership” in preventing the government shutdown that would have been triggered by his continued refusal to sign the bill.
“His leadership has prevented a government shutdown at a time when our nation could not have afforded one,” McConnell said.
His last-minute decision come after his action caused days of legislative chaos by lacerating a bill his treasury Secretary had negotiated. This bill will restore enhanced unemployment assistance that expired Sunday and prevented a shutdown that would have begun Tuesday.
The bill, a result of prolonged negotiations between the parties and the Trump administration includes a $900 billion Covid-19 stimulus package to extend the unemployment benefits: $114 to $357 weekly payments to unemployed gig workers and self-employed people whose businesses have stalled. The funds have been a lifeline for 7.3 million Americans out of work because of the coronavirus.
The package also extends the federal moratorium on evictions that was set to expire Thursday, Which trapped millions of Americans to immediate housing crises and facing homelessness.
The Covid-19 aid package includes additional assistance for small businesses and $600 in direct payments to Americans who earned less than $75,000 in the previous tax year. This amount represented a compromise between Democrats, who wanted larger checks, and Republicans, many of whom opposed additional direct payments.
The legislation also funds the federal government through September. Congress passed the bill with strong bipartisan support late Monday, but Trump upended the consensus by suddenly raising an objection to the size of a new round of direct payments, which came as news to his aides who had negotiated them with Congress.
President Trump demanded lawmakers raising the amount to $2,000 and criticized other elements, which he called “pork,” in the mammoth spending package, including routine annual foreign aid payments. Trump reiterated his criticism Saturday, tweeting, “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill.”
However, Trump’s statement also claimed without evidence that “the House and Senate have agreed to focus strongly on the very substantial voter fraud which took place in the November 3 Presidential election.” His campaign has failed to provide any evidence of fraud in the dozens of lawsuits it has filed to overturn the results. Former Attorney General William Barr confirmed this month that the Justice Department had uncovered no widespread fraud in the election, and states have certified the results confirming Biden the winner.
President Trump has been spending the holiday at Mar-a-Lago, his private resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and he visited Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sunday morning, according to the traveling media pool report.
Last week, Trump vetoed the annual military spending bill, which passed the House and the Senate with veto-proof majorities. Congress has until Jan. 2 to override the veto, which would be the first during the Trump administration. If the president had chosen to veto this Covid-19 relief with government funding legislation, it would have set up his second showdown with Republicans in Congress.
