There was lots of confusion created over the weekend when President Trump took executive action to try to provide coronavirus relief when talks stalled in Congress.
The President’s executive orders intended to revive unemployment benefits, address the existing eviction moratorium, provide student loan debt relief, and suspend collection of payroll taxes.
However, the plan provided no direct aid to struggling businesses, likely having less of an impact on the struggling economy.
Congress has the authority to allocate federal spending, so there must be an agreement made in order to provide additional direct financial relief to Americans.
One of the most complicated parts of the executive order is the $400 a week unemployment bonus payment which is contingent on states providing $100 per week and establishing a whole new program to distribute the funds. This could be difficult at best for struggling states.
“It also remains unclear whether Mr. Trump’s decision to suspend the payroll tax through December, deferring payments, would have any immediate effect. His push to suspend the tax has faced significant objections from both parties, with Senate Republicans ultimately leaving out the proposal altogether in the $1 trillion legislation they unveiled late last month.”