After nearly a week’s delay and under pressure from all sides, US President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion Covid-19 relief bill on Sunday. AFP
After delaying for nearly a week and under pressure from all sides, US President Donald Trump finally signed a massive $900 billion stimulus bill on December 27, in a long-sought boost for millions of people and businesses across the country battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
The package “providing coronavirus emergency response and relief” is part of a larger spending bill that, with Trump’s signature, will avoid a government shutdown on December 29.
In a statement from his Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the president said: “I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP [Paycheque Protection Programmes], return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more.”
For days, Trump refused to put his signature on the relief package approved overwhelmingly by Congress following months of negotiation, calling it a “disgrace”.
Two federal unemployment benefit programmes approved in March as part of an initial Covid-19 relief plan expired at midnight on December 26, cutting off an estimated 12 million US citizens, according to The Century Foundation think tank.
The relief package, passed by Congress on December 21, would extend those benefits as well as others set to expire in the days ahead.
But in his statement, Trump continued to push for the $600 direct payments to US taxpayers spelled out in the bill to be more than tripled, and argued the legislation included too much excess spending on unrelated programmes.
He has not said why he waited until the bill was already approved to make his views known.
President-elect Joe Biden, due to be sworn in January 20 after beating Trump in last month’s election, had warned of “devastating consequences” on December 25 if the president continued his refusal.
Earlier on December 26, before the bill was signed, some Republicans urged Trump to change course.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey told Fox News on December 26: “I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big cheques, but the danger is he’ll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behaviour if he allows this to expire.”
Democrats in Congress sought on December 24 to approve a measure to increase the direct payments in line with what Trump wants, but Republicans blocked it.
It was seen largely as a theatrical move with little hope of passage designed to expose the rift between Republicans and the outgoing president.
Senator Bernie Sanders said earlier December 26 that “what the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel”.
He said on ABC: “Many millions of people are losing their extended unemployment benefits.
“They’re going to be evicted from their apartments because the eviction moratorium is ending.”
Sanders said increased direct payments could be approved in the coming days.
