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PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government headed into a chaotic final days of the year when President Donald Trump’s refusal to approve a $ 2.3 trillion financial package made millions of Unemployed Americans lost benefits and threatened to close agencies due to lack of funding.
Trump, who leaves office on January 20 after losing the November election, was pressured on Sunday by lawmakers from both sides to stop blocking the pandemic aid and government funding bill that was approved by Congress. last week.
The Republican president, who played golf on Sunday and remained out of the public eye, has demanded that Congress change the bill to increase the size of stimulus checks for troubled Americans from $ 600 to $ 2,000.
White House officials have been quiet about Trump’s thinking, but a source familiar with the situation said some aides were urging him to sign the bill because they saw no point in refusing. Some advisers were betting that Trump, who has refused to give in to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, would give in, but admitted he was in an unpredictable mood and could resist, the source said.
Democrats agree to the $ 2,000 payments, but many Republicans have objected in the past. Many economists agree that financial aid in the bill should be higher to get the economy moving again, but say immediate support is still urgently needed for Americans affected by the coronavirus lockdowns.
Unemployment benefits paid to some 14 million people through pandemic programs expired on Saturday, but could restart until mid-March if Trump signs the bill.
In addition to the uncertainty, the package includes $ 1.4 trillion in spending to fund government agencies. If Trump does not sign the legislation, he will begin a partial government shutdown Tuesday that would put the incomes of millions of government workers at risk, unless Congress steps in with an interim measure that the president agrees to.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey told “Fox News Sunday” that Trump should pass the bill now, and then push for more unemployment money later.
“My understanding is that the president would like to send bigger checks to everyone. I think what he should do is sign this bill and then defend the case. Congress can pass another bill,” Toomey said.
“You don’t get everything you want, even if you are the president of the United States,” he said.
After months of arguing, Republicans and Democrats agreed on the package last weekend, with the support of the White House.
Trump surprised both Republicans and Democrats when he later said he was unhappy with the huge bill, which provides $ 892 billion in financial relief from coronavirus, despite offering no objections to the terms of the deal before Congress did. approved on Monday.
Trump spent the Christmas holidays at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. On Sunday morning, he seemed in no rush to try to resolve the showdown with Congress while playing a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
He has also complained that the bill gives too much money to special interests, cultural projects and foreign aid.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers who were involved in crafting the aid bill urged Trump to sign it immediately. But, they added, if he is determined to veto it, he should do so quickly to “allow supporters to act before it is too late.”
“This act will show your support for the American people who need emergency services such as food, shelter, unemployment benefits and small business assistance during these difficult times,” they said in a statement.
Senator Bernie Sanders said of the delay: “What the president is doing right now is incredibly cruel.”
“We are dealing with an unprecedented moment in American history. Many people are suffering,” he told ABC News’s “This Week.” Sanders, an independent who works with Democrats, urged Trump to “finally do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about their ego.”
BENEFIT PAYMENTS
Americans are going through a bitter Christmas season amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 330,000 people in the United States, with a daily death toll now exceeding 3,000, the highest since the pandemic began.
The aid package also extends a moratorium on evictions that expires Dec. 31, updates support for small business payroll, provides funding to help schools reopen, and aid for the transportation industry and vaccine distribution. .
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, said Trump’s refusal to sign the economic stimulus bill was difficult to understand.
“I don’t get the point,” Kinzinger told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Unless it’s just to create chaos, show power, and be upset that you lost the election.”
The United States Congress, which is normally suspended in the last week of December, prepares to return to work.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives plans to vote on legislation Monday that provides one-time checks of $ 2,000 to individuals, but Republican lawmakers are already concerned about the cost of the larger package.
Without enactment of the comprehensive aid and funding bill, the US government runs out of money at midnight on December 28. If the battle with Trump is not resolved by then, Congress must pass an interim funding law or federal agencies will not have the money to fully function as of Tuesday.
That scenario could be avoided if both the House and Senate pass a separate funding bill for anti-pandemic legislation and the president signs it before midnight Monday.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell; written by Alistair Bell and Matt Spetalnick; edited by Daniel Wallis)
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