President Donald Trump may issue executive actions to provide coronavirus relief now that the Senate has failed to reach a deal, The Washington Post reports.
White House officials are currently discussing whether to bolster the airline industry and federal unemployment benefits, as well as whether to bypass Congress and allocate additional funding for school vouchers, and improving the temporary payroll tax deferral, according to the Post.
Trump suggested at a White House press conference last week that he could use money from the Economic Stabilization Fund, which was established by Congress last March and reportedly has hundreds of millions in funds waiting to be disbursed, without congressional approval.
“We have $300 billion in an account that we didn’t use — and we are willing to use that,” Trump said. “I think there is a theory that I could do it without having to go back [to Congress], but I think it would be appropriate to go back, and I would ask Congress to approve it.”
Leaders of both parties in Congress have accused the other side of playing politics, and not really wanting to pass a bill providing coronavirus relief.
“Democrats just point fingers, call names and keep blocking American families from getting any more help before the November election,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked why the majority leader continued to push a bill that won’t pass.
“Is it because they really don’t want a bill, but a political issue — one that will ultimately backfire on them, I believe?” Schumer said.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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