US passes 5m Covid-19 cases amid anger over impasse of economic relief – live | American news

Chuck Schumer is being followed on ABC’s This Week by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow. He defended the president’s actions, saying they would help Americans struggling during the economic crisis caused by Covid-19.

“[Trump’s actions] provide significant economic assistance, ”he said.

Kudlow also fired a shot at Democrats, indicating they were to blame for Congress’s failure to vote on a new economic relief bill. That deadlock, in turn, led to Trump deciding to lay off executive actions Saturday.

“There are still a lot of difficulties, there are a lot of heartbeats there and the point that President Trump made yesterday is that we tried on several occasions to get a compromise on unemployment benefits, for example,” Kudlow said. .

The US has now reported 5m Covid-19 cases, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The figure was released a short time ago, and America is leading the world by far in cases of the deadly virus. Brazil, the country with the next highest number of cases, has just over 3m in total. India, in the third, has recorded just over 2.1m.

The US also has the highest number of deaths in the world due to the virus. Johns Hopkins has the score at 162,000, although others have the figure higher. Brazil has just over 100,000 deaths of Covid-19.

For more on how the US mishandled the pandemic, read the in-depth report by my colleague Ed Pilkington:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Saturday gave a scathing assessment of Donald Trump’s announcement of economic relief measures.

During an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning, Schumer said the president’s plans would not do enough to address the financial difficulties facing millions of Americans because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also called the guidelines “defective”, “unworkable” and “weak”.

“The event at the country club is exactly what Trump is doing: a great show, but it does nothing,” Schumer said. “When the American people see these executive commands, they will see that they are not doing anything close to work.”

Schumer and speaker Nancy Pelosi have given the lead on the Democrats’ negotiations with Republicans over a new economic relief package. The two sides are in an accident, with Democrats wanting to spend about $ 1 more than Republicans. Trump’s executive order on Saturday, which is likely to challenge his legality, was an attempt to break that deadlock. Schumer was asked on Sunday about whether Trump’s order was legal or not. “I will leave that to the lawyers,” he said.

On Saturday, Schumer and Pelosi attacked Trump’s plans in a joint statement.

‘We are disappointed that instead of working to solve the problems of Americans, the President chose instead to stay on his luxury golf course to announce unworkable, weak and narrow policy announcements to reduce the unemployment benefits that millions are desperately in need and endanger seniors ‘Social Security and Medicine,’ they said.

“Democrats reiterate our call on Republicans to return to the table, meet our halfway point and work together to provide immediate relief to the American people.”

Joe Biden yesterday dismissed part of Donald Trump’s executive order as “a reckless war on social security.” The president said he would postpone the tax service by the end of 2020. He also said he would make permanent tax cuts if he beats Biden in the November election. Tax services for employers help fund social security.

“[Trump] lays out its roadmap for cutting Social Security, ”Biden wrote in a statement. “Our seniors and millions of Americans with disabilities are under enough stress without questioning Trump’s hard-earned benefits of Social Security.”

It remains unclear if Trump actually has the power to pass payroll tax through executive order, and expects his moves to be challenged in court this weekend.

You can read more about Trump’s executive order here:

Good morning, it may be Sunday, but there’s a lot going on in US political news. We handle all developments, so stay tuned.

Here are the main stories so far:

• The United States will today pass on the sober sign of five million cases of Covid-19.
• Donald Trump has signed an order for coronavirus relief, with lower levels of extra help for the unemployed
• Big oil remembers ‘friend’ Trump with millions in campaign funds