Trump Signs (most likely ineffective ] Executive Actions as Covid Relief
- Over the weekend, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive actions intended to provide renewed coronavirus relief for Americans as negotiations on Capitol Hill stall — but experts say their constitutionality is questionable. [Vox / Zeeshan Aleem]
- Technically, Trump only signed one executive order, on evictions, as well as three presidential memorandums. The latter ostensibly implement renewed unemployment insurance, a payroll tax deferral, and a student loan freeze. [Washington Post / Heather Long]
- Trump’s authority on unemployment is more than a bit suspect: His Saturday memo is effectively an end run around Congress’s power of the purse, and is likely to face legal challenges. [Vanity Fair / Charlotte Klein]
- Country club members awaiting the president
- The new unemployment plan would set expanded benefits at $400 a week — down from $600 — and draw on federal disaster relief money for funding. States would also be required to put up $100 toward the $400 benefit. [NYT / Emily Cochrane, Alan Rappeport, and Luke Broadwater]
- Credit...Michael Reynolds/EPA, via Shutterstock
- Democrats, who passed a sweeping new coronavirus relief package in May that has since languished on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk, lambasted Trump’s actions as “unworkable, weak and narrow.” [NPR / Rachel Treisman]
- Even Republicans weren’t especially happy with Trump. Though some, including McConnell, backed him over the weekend, GOP Sen. Ben Sasse condemned Trump’s actions as “unconstitutional slop.” [Politico / Evan Semones and Caitlin Oprysko]
- Bipartisan condemnation of Trump doesn’t necessarily mean things will start moving on the Hill. The last update on negotiations put the two factions about $2 trillion apart, with the size of the unemployment benefit as a major sticking point. [Vox / Li Zhou and Ella Nilsen]
- Democrats want to renew the benefit at $600 a week, the same level as in July. Republicans, meanwhile, hope to slash it to as little as $200 a week. [CNBC / Jennifer Liu]
- Money for schools also appears to be a point of contention. Trump has indicated that he wants to condition funding on reopening, despite the public health risks. Early attempts at reopening in places like Georgia have gone poorly. [NBC News / Ginger Gibson, Lauren Egan, Josh Lederman, and Kelly O'Donnell]
