Schumer and Pelosi offered a 2 trillion dollar offer (a compromise between HEROES 3.4 trillion and HEALS 1trillion). Meadows and Mnuchin refused it before even talking specifics. Mnuchin and Meadows created the stall and then said they’d be pushing Trump to make executive orders because of the stall.
Senators and Representatives have been sent home on their recess, but “will be called back for a vote”. This is infuriating; it completely ignores the urgency of the issue. Congress needs to be at DC in a standstill, just like the American public.
Trump spent the day golfing in New Jersey and then gave a press conference at 7pm where he read a script threatening executive orders on the eviction moratorium, unemployment benefits (no details), and healthcare for people with pre-existing conditions (aka the Obamacare that he has been trying to get rid of…) This is a false promise of relief. The President does not have the legal authority to continue the payments on his own so his order is likely to be held up in the courts. The President needs to encourage his WH team to negotiate.
The jobs report came out today. Despite adding 1.8 million jobs in July, we are still down 12.9 million jobs due to the pandemic. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2% but it is STILL above the high of the Great Recession.
The unemployment rate went down BECAUSE OF the $600. It kept our economy afloat and allowed people to feel stable enough to search for jobs. We still need the $600.