Trump circumvents Congress to extend relief as talks on recovery package falter

NEW YORK • US President Donald Trump took executive action on Saturday to circumvent Congress and try to extend an array of federal pandemic relief, resorting to a legally dubious set of edicts whose impact was unclear, as negotiations over an economic recovery package appeared on the brink of collapse.

It was not clear what authority Mr Trump had to act on his own on the measures or what immediate effect they would have, given that Congress controls federal spending.

But his decision to sign the measures - billed as a federal eviction ban, a payroll tax suspension, relief for student borrowers and US$400 (S$550) a week for the jobless - reflected the failure of two weeks of talks between White House officials and top congressional Democrats to strike a deal on a broad relief plan as crucial benefits have expired with no resolution in sight.

Mr Trump's move also illustrated the heightened concern of a president staring down re-election in the middle of a historic recession and a pandemic, determined to show voters that he was doing something to address the crises.

But despite his assertions on Saturday that his actions "will take care of this entire situation", the orders also leave a number of critical bipartisan funding proposals unaddressed, including providing assistance to small businesses, billions of dollars to schools before the new school year, aid to states and cities, and a second round of US$1,200 stimulus cheques to Americans.

"Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have chosen to hold this vital assistance hostage," Mr Trump said, savaging the two top Democrats and their US$3.4 trillion opening offer during a news conference at his private golf club in New Jersey, his second in two days.

"We've had it," he added, accusing the Democrats of holding up negotiations with demands for provisions that appeared to have little to do with the pandemic, although he made little mention of comparable items in the US$1 trillion proposal Republicans unveiled last month.

Democrats have refused to agree to that plan, pressing instead for a far more expansive economic relief package, at least twice as large, that would provide billions more for states and cities and food aid, and revive the lapsed US$600-per-week enhanced federal jobless aid payments. Republicans are proposing to revive the payments but at a rate of US$400 a week.

It was unclear whether the effort to bypass Congress would kill the already stalled talks altogether, though Mr Trump told reporters he would be open to continuing the discussions.

"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," Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer said in a statement.

They called on Republicans to "return to the table" to continue negotiating and "meet us halfway".

It was unclear if the aid would even materialise if lawsuits are filed challenging the legality.

Mr Trump walked away from the lectern after reporters questioned his claim that he had the ability to circumvent Congress.

Signing the orders was a familiar tactic from a president who has portrayed himself as the ultimate deal-maker but in practice has shown little interest in or skill for negotiating with Congress, bristling against the limitations of his power.

It recalled his decision in 2018 to shut down the government over his demand for funding for a wall on the south-western border, his signature campaign promise, in an effort to force Democrats to agree to the money.

They never did, and the President ultimately declared a national emergency to divert other federal money to fund it himself, a move that drew legal challenges.

After the event on Saturday, the White House released texts of the measures - one executive order and three memorandums - which included several flourishes that read like political documents in accusing Democrats of playing games.

One invoked the Stafford Act, a federal disaster relief statute, to divert money from a homeland security fund and allow states to use money already allocated by Congress to help people who have been laid off amid the pandemic, effectively allowing them to apply for disaster relief to cover lost wages. The mechanism would pull from the same fund that covers natural disasters in the middle of what is expected to be a highly active hurricane season.

Mr Trump said the action would provide US$400 weekly in enhanced unemployment benefits, US$200 less than laid-off workers had been receiving under benefits that lapsed at the end of last month. But with states being directed to pick up US$100 of that aid, the federal amount would be no more than US$300 a week.

He also retroactively signed a memorandum suspending the payroll tax from Aug 1 to the end of this year, although the order would just defer the payment of the taxes.

Mr Trump has vowed that if re-elected in November, he would extend the deferral and the payments. If he tried to make a payroll tax cut permanent, it would have a drastic effect on the funding of Social Security, which he has previously promised not to cut.

His memorandum seeking to repurpose other money to cover lost wages is unlikely to deliver additional cash to laid-off workers any time soon, and economists say the payroll tax collections suspension is also unlikely to bolster workers' pay cheques because it is only a delay in tax liability.

NYTIMES