President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to provide a payroll tax holiday for Americans earning less than $100,000 a year, adding that if elected, he will make permanent cuts to payroll taxes.
"Democrats are obstructing all of it. Therefore, I'm taking executive action, we've had it", Trump said at a pres conference in New Jersey. "First of all, I am providing a payroll tax holiday to Americans earning less than $100,000 per year".
The president also said he is signing other directives to protect Americans from eviction, to protect citizens who are unemployed, and to provide relief to students with loans and renters.
"Secondly, I am signing an executive order directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HHS. and CDC to make sure that renters and home owners can stay in their homes", Trump said.
The action sets weekly unemployment payments at $400, with states covering 25 percent of the cost.
The president highlighted that through these four actions, his administration provides "immediate and vital relief to Americans struggling at this difficult time".
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have slammed Trump for bypassing the Congress with executive orders to extend COVID-19 relief and urged Republicans to return to the negotiating table.
In a joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer have described the announcements as "unworkable, weak and narrow." They claimed that Trump "still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crises facing working families". They, in particular, accused him of "cutting families' unemployment benefits and pushing states further into budget crises".
While making his policy announcements, Trump, in turn, said that the Democrats were "actively blocking" support for K-12 schools, additional funding for businesses, hospitals, testing and vaccines, a well as direct payments to families. He personally accused Pelosi and Schumer of holding the "vital assistance" hostage.
A new COVID-19 relief bill was supposed to decide whether to extend a $600 weekly check for jobless Americans or come up with a new benefit for them. Trump has advocated for cutting the weekly benefit to $200, saying the $600 payout was so "generous" that it discouraged many from returning to work, even with businesses having reopened from lockdowns forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the president, the Democrat bill is full of stipulations that have nothing to do with coronavirus, including the mass release of inmates, even serious felons. He said that the key thing that the Democrats want is "bailout money for states run by Democrat governors and mayors".
