![Trump signs COVID relief bill after delay](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/06/White-House-Front-Side.jpg)
President Trump finally signed a coronavirus relief package Sunday after several days’ delay.
The president signed the bill Sunday night, but issued a statement that “wasteful items need to be removed” from the bill, indicating that the White House would send a “redlined version” back to Congress “insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.” He noted that the House will vote on Monday to increase the direct payments from $600 to $2,000 and urged the Senate to do the same. His statement also said that Congress would take up Section 230 and voter fraud issues, neither of which Congress is likely to revisit.
The $900 billion bipartisan bill was presented to the president on December 23. This bill provides a direct $600 payment to Americans who made under $75,000 annually. Additionally, the bill provides subsidies for businesses, restaurants and renters facing eviction as well as extends the eviction moratorium until January 31. Further, the bill provides a temporary $300 per week of supplemental jobless benefits. The relief package passed in the Senate by a vote of 92-6 and in the House by a vote of 359-53. President Trump initially balked at signing the bill, tweeting, “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill.”
Trump’s signature did not come in time to prevent a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions of Americans, as the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs both expired on December 26. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that alluded to the loss of benefits, writing about “the fourteen million Americans who just lost the lifeline of unemployment benefits on Christmas Weekend.” She called on Republicans to support the “stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000,” which should be brought to a vote in the House on Monday.
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