President Donald Trump signed the $2.3 trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill into law late Sunday night to avoid the government shutting down at 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, it was announced.
Mr. Trump’s signature on the bill extends billions of dollars in coronavirus aid to millions, extends unemployment benefits for millions of jobless gig-workers and independent contractors, as well as the long-term unemployed.
The coronavirus relief bill was passed Congress on Monday and was flown to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday for the President’s signature but he held back on signing to try and get Congress to agree on $2,000 checks for Americans instead of $600. Sunday night saw him sign the same bill he had sat on for days.
“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quickly pounced on Mr. Trump’s $2,000 checks offer last week and brought to the floor a standalone bill that Republicans rejected.
The House is set to vote on the expansion of the direct payments on Monday.
The new coronavirus deal extends two pandemic programs for up to 11 weeks. However, the $300 federal enhancement may only last 10 weeks instead of 11 weeks.
Mr. Trump’s statement was filled with mistruths as he lied that he was signing the deal after the “House and Senate have agreed to focus strongly on the very substantial voter fraud”, but there is no evidence of any voter fraud in the 2020 election.
“Voter Fraud must be fixed,” Trump stated.
Trump signed the bill almost a week after calling it a “disgrace” and demanding Congress make changes, which he claimed are coming.
“I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill,” Mr. Trump said.
