Trump’s signing comes after two federal programs, which included benefits for the unemployed, expired on Saturday night, leaving 12 million Americans exposed to the severe economic crisis.
President Donald Trump signed this Sunday the economic relief plan that provides $ 900 billion, a package considered essential to straighten the course of the world’s leading economy, hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision meant a sudden change for the president, who refused for days to sign this bill which was passed by Congress on December 21st.
Trump signed the $ 2.3 trillion bill Sunday afternoon at his Sea-to-Lake (Florida) residence. This package, known as the omnibus, includes the second stimulus plan approved this year in the US and $ 1.4 trillion to fund the Administration through September 2021.
“I sign this package of omnibus and covid-19 with a resounding message that makes it clear to Congress that points of the law that are a waste must be removed” from the text, Trump said in a statement. The president said that while he is signing the bill, he is still waiting for Congress to approve a change in the point that includes sending a single payment of $ 600 to millions of taxpayers to offset the damage of the bill. pandemic.
Trump also assured that he will return to Congress the Administration’s funding plan with underlined parts for changes to be made, but it is not clear that lawmakers need to change anything.
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With all of this, Trump’s signing comes after two federal programs, which included benefits for the unemployed, expired on Saturday night, leaving 12 million Americans exposed to the severe economic crisis. Trump’s delay will mean delays in re-managing such benefits for Americans.
In fact, days ago Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst for National Employment Law, told The New York Times that even if the president signed the bill on Saturday, states would still need time to reprogram computer systems.
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“States can’t pay benefits until the bill is signed, which means that if the president doesn’t sign before Saturday, the benefits won’t resume until the first week of January. But they’ll still end up in the middle of March, effectively cutting the extension from 11 to 10 weeks, ”reads an analysis in the American newspaper.
Why Trump’s indecision?
For several days, the president rejected the package approved by Congress and called, among other things, for direct payments to taxpayers to be increased from $ 600 to $ 2,000. Trump called the relief a “shame” and said the $ 600 payments included in the aid are “ridiculously low.”
What does the aid package offer?
In addition to direct payments, the ransom includes an unemployment benefit of $ 300 a week, $ 325 billion in business assistance ($ 275,000 for payroll), $ 45 billion for public transportation systems, $ 82,000 millions for schools and billions in food stamps, aid to tenants and for the distribution of vaccines.
With information from Efe *