Millions of Americans stand to lose enhanced unemployment benefits or face eviction from their homes without new legislation.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Saturday again blasted a massive economic stimulus bill overwhelmingly approved by Congress this week as the ramifications of a last-minute veto threat came into greater focus for the millions of Americans set to lose enhanced unemployment benefits or face eviction from their homes without new legislation. The standoff between Trump and Congress grew deeper Saturday with no clarity on how they might come to resolution. Congressional Republicans and Democrats have expressed frustration since Trump on Tuesday, the day after the legislation passed both houses, sharply criticized the package in a White House video and on Twitter, despite having played little role in the long and difficult negotiations that led to its passage. Trump on Saturday repeated his opposition to the size of the checks, suggesting he would not sign the legislation without increasing them. “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” Trump tweeted, referring to the stimulus checks that would go to millions of Americans. “Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork.’” Enhanced unemployment benefits approved earlier this year stood to expire Saturday, threatening benefits for an estimated 12 million Americans, according to the Century Foundation. Even if Trump does eventually sign the bill, people eligible for unemployment benefits are likely to lose at least one of those weeks because the bill was not signed quickly enough for computer systems to be updated in time for next week’s payments, according to Democratic lawmakers. Without the $2.3-trillion spending bill, the federal government will run out of funding Monday evening, sparking the third shutdown of Trump’s presidency. A federal moratorium on housing evictions, which would have been extended for another month under the legislation, will expire Thursday, allowing thousands of removal efforts to proceed. In 27 American cities alone, landlords have filed more than 162,000 evictions during the pandemic, according to Eviction Lab, a tracking program at Princeton University. The bill also contains billions of dollars for other time-sensitive initiatives, such as vaccine distribution and COVID-19 testing. Trump said he would veto the bill because the checks were too small, bringing him in line with Democrats, who have long demanded larger payments.
