WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and his campaign have been racing to score a political impetus from a series of executive actions over the weekend that address the economic fallout from the coronavirus before the limited impact of the measures comes into focus.
Some GOP strategists warned that any gain from the push, which began within minutes of Trump’s moves on Saturday, would likely be short-lived – and could pose more political risks as a reward if voters did not see a direct benefit to the president’s promise of relief.
“It’s too real and present in people’s lives to talk about talking points as promises,” said Brendan Buck, a Republican communications strategist who served as top adviser to former Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “If these executive orders do not really solve the economic crisis, and I doubt they will, then it will only hurt him in the long run.”
After the White House failed to follow up on a deal with Democrats in Congress after several weeks of talks, Trump signed four executive actions Saturday for coronavirus economic relief: an executive order and three memoranda for student loan payments and some payroll taxes. by set year; discourage escapes; and provide enhanced unemployment benefits if states agree to contribute money to the program.
By that afternoon, Trump’s campaign was gaining traction on social media and on the airwaves, with surrogates portraying the president as a real action while trying to link former Vice President Joe Biden to Democrats in Congress. t could not reach a deal with the White House.
“Congress failed to act and Joe Biden’s allies prevented people from extending their unemployment benefits,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh. “They use people’s economic difficulties as a political weapon.”
On Monday, the president tried to add stock market gains earlier in the day to his executive actions, making sure he returned to the point, even after being briefly evacuated from the White House letter room due to a close shot.
“So I told you that the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 are now 50 percent above the March level,” Trump said after returning to the pop stage in the White House letter room and putting back his prepared remarks.
He added that he was seeking to cut capital gains taxes and middle-class income taxes – moves that would also require action by Congress.
But how much benefit affected workers will ultimately see from the president’s actions over the weekend will depend on which states, landlords and employers choose to do so – giving Trump and his allies a narrow window to try to get a message gain before that. limited influence becomes clear.
At the tax office, for example, many employers are not expected to adopt a change in the exemption of employees, as the same amount will still be at the end of the year.
“It is far from clear that the taxman’s vacation will achieve its intended goal of, as the president said, ‘saving U.S. jobs and providing relief to U.S. workers,'” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. , in a statement. “First, the action is a proposal of these taxes, not an elimination of them. So, the bill is still due, it just does not come in the short term. Let us remember that it is the unemployed who need help, not so many Americans who are still working and who are benefiting. “
Trump has said if he wins re-election, he would continue the extension on the tax cut, though he did not say how – or what he would do to offset any impact on Social Security funding.
On expulsions, the president instructed some federal agencies to “consider” whether an extension of the temporary ban was necessary to help combat the spread of the coronavirus, and called on other departments to seek available federal funding. which could potentially be used to help anyone, renters or homeowners, struggle to pay for housing due to circumstances created by the pandemic.
But there was nothing in the measure that would stop landlords from taking action against criminal tenants – now, as in the future. And the directive only asks agencies to decide whether a ban on eviction is necessary and whether assistance is available, without focusing on what conclusion to reach, or how quickly they should reach it.
Even the lone movement that included more concrete action was surrounded by question marks: It is unclear how states, already struggling financially as a result of the coronavirus, can meet their demand to pay a quarter of the $ 400 per week in additional unemployment benefits. measure calls on them to provide.
“There is no money sitting in the piggy bank of the previous CARES law to re-prioritize or recreate for this purpose,” said Govin Newsom of California. “Simply put, it does not exist.” He said paying 25 percent of California’s unemployment benefits would cost an estimated $ 700 million a week.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany sought to shift the blame for all the limited benefits of executive action to Democrats and state officials, saying, for example, that any delay in the distribution of the $ 400 per week unemployment benefits debt would be from states that have to apply for the federal funds.
“This president stood up for American workers at a time when Democrats refused to do so,” she told reporters.
Trump has sought to frame the executive actions as both a way to provide benefits to those in need and a method to force opponents to bend to their negotiating positions, reporters said Sunday he had already heard from Democrats about restarting the currently failed help calls. On Monday, Trump suggested Second Chamber member Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., sought to meet in the throes of his actions, though both were already in talks have been on a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for White House for several weeks.
“Now Schumer and Pelosi now want to meet to make a deal. It’s amazing how it all works, it’s not, “Trump tweeted Monday. ‘Where have they been the last 4 weeks when they were’ hardliners’, and only BAILOUT MONEY wanted for Democrats to run states and cities that are falling badly? They know my phone number! ”
But that benefit could also have long-term benefits: As of Monday afternoon, there had actually been no contact between the administration and Pelosi or Schumer over re-talks, according to two senior Democratic assistants.
The best case scenario for Trump, Buck said, could be if Democrats reach a deal on a bill that could pass both houses and that he was ready to sign – giving the president the opportunity to claim he is capable. was to push them into an agreement. If not, he said, Democrats will be blamed for a bad election day.
“This election will be a referendum on his job performance and his ability to actually resolve this crisis,” Buck said. “That means he needs real solutions.”
