President Trump has signed the stimulus/Covid relief package into law after a week of declaring he would not.
President Trump late Sunday signed the stimulus bill into law, three people briefed on his decision said, averting a Tuesday government shutdown. His decision to back down and sign the measure will release $900 billion in stimulus funds into the economy that had been held up for nearly a week.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose Trump’s move, which took place while Trump was vacationing in Florida. They said the president had repeatedly changed his mind on the matter.
Trump’s new decision to sign the bill came less than a week after he demanded changes to it. He had suggested he would refuse to sign it into law unless those demands were met. On Tuesday, he referred to the bill as a “disgrace.” It was unclear what prompted him to change his mind late Sunday, but he was under tremendous pressure from Republicans to acquiesce.
The government would have shut down on Tuesday if Trump didn’t act. In addition to containing money to fund government operations, the spending package also includes emergency relief money that finances a new round of stimulus checks, unemployment aid, and small business assistance, among other things.
Before the signed the bill, Trump hinted Sunday evening that there had been a development. He tweeted that there was “Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow!”
Article forgot to mention that he signed it with the Gr8t Kr4ken of Line-Item V3toes.Report
I’m losing track of how many times I’ve written this morning: formal rescission request in accordance with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Badly described by Trump, but entirely normal as executed by his staff. From FY1974 through FY2008, presidents made over 1,100 such requests.Report
Fair enough… a recission that requires Congressional approval within 45-days or becomes moot in this case is a lot like a line-item veto: wishful thinking misleadingly packaged-up for purely internal consumption.
Or do you see Congress turning some of the recissions into law? Now that would be interesting indeed.Report
Someone pointed out that there were a number of Congresspeople who voted against the bill in the first place who went on to vote to overturn the veto.
Which invites a handful of interesting questions, I guess.Report
I think it’s straightforward. They thought it was a bad deal at vote 1 then decided any deal was better than no deal when it became clear that the GOP was not with Trump.Report