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President Trump signed four executive orders over the weekend. They were aimed at providing financial relief to Americans amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump announced that $400-per-week supplemental unemployment payments will go to out-of-work Americans. This is less than the $600 weekly benefit that expired at the end of July. He also unveiled protections from evictions for homeowners and renters and an extension of student loan relief.
Not only that, but he also issued a payroll tax holiday for Americans earning less than $100,000 that will last through the end of the year.
Trump signed the executive actions while at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. He, as usual, placed blame on Democrats for the stalemate in Congress.
“Democrats are obstructing all of it,” said Trump. “Therefore, I’m taking executive action and we’re going to save American jobs and provide relief to the American workers.”
The new $400-per-week benefit will require individual states to pick up 25 percent of the funding, while 75 percent of the funding will be provided by the federal government. When asked when the jobless will see the new benefits, Trump said they would be “rapidly distributed.”
Americans are currently facing many struggles, with some resorting to prepaid phones for sale and other means to save money.
Related: Republicans Want to Reduce Unemployment Benefits to $200 per Week
While Trump lambasted Democrats over the stalemate, the $400 boost is actually more than what many congressional Republicans wanted. Some were only willing to back a boost of no more than $200 a week, while others opposed any extension of federal aid.
Democrats have been fighting to keep the $600-per-week extension, which has been provided on top of state unemployment benefits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer dismissed Trump’s actions as “meager.”
“Today’s meager announcements by the president show President Trump still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crises facing working families,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.
“We’re disappointed that instead of putting in the work to solve Americans’ problems, the President instead chose to stay on his luxury golf course to announce unworkable, weak and narrow policy announcements to slash the unemployment benefits that millions desperately need and endanger seniors’ Social Security and Medicare.”
One big issue is the holiday on payroll taxes that Trump has long wanted. Those taxes help fund Medicare and Social Security, and congressional Republicans haven’t fought for the provision because of how much the suspension could drive up an already staggering debt.
Related: Can You Get Unemployment as a Freelancer or Self-Employed Worker?
