Lead coronavirus relief bill negotiators weigh in on Trump's executive orders
President Trump just signed a series of coronavirus pandemic-related executive orders in an attempt to bypass a congressional stalemate over an economic relief bill. Naturally, the people who were at the negotiating table the last few weeks had some thoughts.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday echoed critics who have called the president's orders unconstitutional and weak. Pelosi told Fox News' Chris Wallace the orders are "illusions," with Schumer adding during an appearance on ABC's This Week that they don't "do the job."
There is a major difference between working to provide for the urgent needs of America’s working families and prioritizing stagecraft that gives the *illusion* of helping, but falls way short of actually addressing the widespread hardship from the #covid pandemic. pic.twitter.com/iAPUXot5DI
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) August 9, 2020
NEW: Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on the legality of President Trump’s COVID-19 executive orders, Sen. Chuck Schumer declines to say if they’re illegal: “I’ll leave that up to the attorneys. It doesn’t do the job.” https://t.co/mXqSebBaMG pic.twitter.com/tGrDpne0ml
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 9, 2020
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who sat on the other side of the table, defended the actions, arguing that Pelosi and Schumer had a chance to accept the White House's offer of continuing to pay $600/week enhanced unemployment benefits — which would be reduced to $400/week under Trump's order — during negotiations, but "turned that down." Mnuchin said Democratic lawmakers will have "a lot of explaining to do" if they challenge the executive actions in court, which seems likely at this point. Read more at The Hill.