UPDATED, with additional Trump comments: Suspected and furloughed workers in entertainment see even more uncertainty about unemployment benefits as negotiations over Capitol Hill stall over a massive new coronavirus relief package.
On Twitter, Donald Trump promised to go “another way” by passing Congress through an executive mandate to expand improved unemployment benefits and impose a temporary moratorium on eviction.
But it is unclear on what legal grounds he can do this or on what amount the unemployment benefit would be. Trump has favored a COVID-19 benefit less than the extra $ 600-a-week that was delivered through the end of July.
At a press conference later on Friday, Trump also said he was considering an executive order that would defer payment taxes and student loan payments. The executive assignments, he said, ‘could be at the end of the week. It is currently being created by the lawyers. ”
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The dispute between the White House and top Democrats is about more than just benefits for unemployment, but the scope of the COVID-19 relief package itself.
After a meeting on Friday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she told them, “Come back when you are ready to give a higher number.”
House of Representatives minority leader Chuck Schumer said Mnuchin and Meadows rejected their proposal – that Democrats reduce the scope of their proposal, in which they try to “meet in the middle” at the expense of a package around $ 2 trillion to $ 2.4 trillion.
“They said it could not go above their existing $ 1 trillion, and that was disappointing,” Schumer said.
He said that “with that number, we can not meet the needs of workers, of teachers, of schools, of all these things.”
After the meeting, Mnuchin and Meadows recommended that Trump sign executive orders to tackle the crisis.
Trump tweeted that “Pelosi and Schumer are only interested in Bailout Money for bad cities and states of Democrats. Nothing to do with China Virus! Want one trillion dollars. No interest. We’re going another way! ”
Pelosi and Schumer have argued that much more is needed to help state and local governments make up for budget shortfalls, forcing them to dismiss readers, legislators and other government employees.
Industry groups have called for an expansion of the benefits, along with a variety of other measures to make sectors of the sector tougher. Theater owners and live event venues want a comprehensive loan program to offset losses, while broadcasters and local media companies are lobbying for changes to broaden the range of stations and newspapers eligible for relief. But not much will happen unless an agreement is reached on a general relief package.
