For several weeks, the Democratic and Republican parties have gathered at Congress to negotiate a possible second wave of COVID-19 relief aid with the White House, in light of the $600 additional unemployment assistance ending on July 31. Through that time, a mutual agreement between the three sides has been failed to be met, leading Donald Trump to recently announce that he will sign four executive orders to assist Americans.
After a recent meeting between three sides failed to reach a decision, Trump stayed true to his word and signed the orders Saturday evening at his New Jersey golf resort. Now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is blasting Trump for his recent actions.
“No, in fact, what the president did is – I agreed [with] what the Republican senator said – is unconstitutional slop,” Pelosi said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” referring to comments made Saturday by GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
The California Democrat continued:
“While it has the illusion of saying we’re going to have a moratorium on evictions, it says I’m going to ask the folks in charge to study if that’s feasible. While he says he’s going to do the payroll tax, what he’s doing is undermining Social Security and Medicare, so these are illusions”.
Under Trump’s orders an additional or extra $400 a week is to be provided to Americans on unemployment, with 25% ($100) coming from the state; the moratorium on evictions for “homeowners with federally backed mortgages” will continue, payroll taxes due dates will be deferred until the end of the year, and the student loan relief granted in the CARES Act will be extended until December 31.
Trump stated that his actions are meant to protect Americans after weeks of failed negations between the White House and the two political parties.
“Democrats have refused these offers. What they want is bailout money for Democrat governors and mayors that have been run very very badly for many years,” Trump said.
However, Pelosi says that she and the Democrats have attempted to reach a compromise.
“What the president does, doesn’t even accomplish anything he sets out to do in the categories he did, but we said to [Republicans], we’ll come down a trillion [dollars], you come up a trillion [dollars], and we’ll be able to have an agreement that meets the needs of the American people,” Pelosi said.
She also notes how badly affected America has been by the coronavirus and how the citizens are in desperate need of help from the government.
“We have to reach an agreement, children are food insecure, families are at the risk of being evicted, the virus is moving like a freight train,” Pelosi said. “The kindest thing I could say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, or something’s wrong there, something’s very, very wrong.”
President Trump’s meager executive actions do little for working families. Republicans must come back to the negotiating table, meet us halfway and work toward a compromise that will truly help American workers and families. #FamiliesFirst #FoxNewsSunday pic.twitter.com/vAvoLnKIoa
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 9, 2020
