Donald Trump surprised his Republican peers as much as Democrats when he said over the past week that he was not happy with the bill.
Le Monde avec AFP
Millions of Americans saw their unemployment insurance expire on Saturday, December 26, after President Donald Trump refused to enact the stimulus package of nearly $ 900 billion voted last Monday by Congress, complaining of insufficient funds going directly to American families.
Donald Trump surprised his Republican peers as much as Democrats when he said during the week that he was not satisfied with the bill granting long-awaited aid of 892 billion dollars (730 billion euros), including special unemployment insurance which expired on 26 December, and 1.4 trillion dollars of conventional federal funding until next September.
In the absence of the signature Donald Trump, some 14 million Americans could lose these unemployment benefits, according to data from the Department of Labor.
A partial closure of administrations (“shutdown”) will also occur from Tuesday if Congress fails to agree by then on a provisional financing text.
Entrenched in his Mar-a-Lago club
Republicans and Congressional Democrats reached an agreement on a third place stimulus last weekend amid the effects of the coronavirus crisis after months of intense debate . The White House had given its support to the agreement and Donald Trump, who will cede power on January 20 to his Democratic rival Joe Biden, did not oppose the measures of the plan before it was voted on by both houses of Congress.
Since then, however, the current Republican tenant of the White House has complained that the text allocates too large an amount, according to him, to cultural projects and aid abroad in particular, stressing conversely, the check for 600 dollars intended for Americans in difficulty was insufficient. He called for this direct aid to be increased to $ 2,000. “Why wouldn’t politicians want to give people $ 2,000, rather than just $ 600?” Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Friday, calling on parliamentarians to “give the money to the people”.
Many economists believe that the plan is insufficient, but see it as necessary and welcome immediate support. A source familiar with the matter said Donald Trump’s displayed opposition to the bill caught many White House officials by surprise.
Donald Trump, who is spending the holiday season year in his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, has not yet formally vetoed the text. It is not excluded that the outgoing president will ratify the bill in the coming days, while his strategy on the issue remains unclear.