Trump Turns to Executive Orders to Help More Families
President Donald Trump is considering releasing a new executive order to help more Americans affected by economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow recently said the Trump administration still had billions of money left under the CARES Act that they plan to release soon or if Congress fails to reach a deal on a new stimulus package this week.
The Trump administration's top priority is to provide direct stimulus checks to millions of individuals and PPP loans for businesses across the country. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, when they testified before Congress, both said that these two programs were the administration's priorities.
On Sunday, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said he is hopeful that Congress will reach a deal within this week and include stimulus aid for the nation's air carriers. There is a threat of job retrenchment set to begin at the end of this week if a stimulus deal is not reached.
Parker said: "There's enormous bipartisan support for it. We have Republicans, Democrats, the administration all saying -- knowing that this is the right program, that it makes sense, that indeed it should be extended because airline employees provide critical infrastructure."
"We have everyone putting us in every bill they have, we just need the bills to be laws. We need laws, not bills. That's what we're going to do and I'm actually confident we can get it done," he added.
The Trump administration is preparing for the worst on the possible voting outcome on any potential stimulus deal this week. Trump, who has been very supportive of the second round of stimulus payments, wants millions of Americans not to suffer amid the economic fallout. In fact, Trump has released a series of executive orders after Congress failed to act on a new stimulus package.
He already issued executive orders that expanded the unemployment benefits, a moratorium for house eviction restriction, suspension of payroll taxes, and more. The same scenario could happen if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued to refuse to pass a new stimulus bill.
There are many hints that Trump has always consider releasing an executive order to help more families. It can be recalled that Republicans asked Powell, when he testified before Congress, if there is a possibility of diverting federal funds to other relief measures.
Following that, the White House economic adviser released a statement and said there were billions of dollars left under the CARES Act that can be used for stimulus checks and PPP loans. Possibly, Trump will execute an order for these measures if Congress fails to pass the bill.
Reports said Trump had consulted his lawyers for legal and possible ways to divert the unspent $300 billion to stimulus checks. This week is crucial for the candidates. Voters will likely judge them on how they will act on the bill before they go home to their respective states to campaign.