Democratic leaders on Sunday dismissed President Trump’s attempt to sidestep stalled coronavirus relief talks, saying his executive actions to delay payroll tax payments and extend …
Democratic leaders on Sunday dismissed President Trump’s attempt to sidestep stalled coronavirus relief talks, saying his executive actions to delay payroll tax payments and extend federal unemployment benefits are false promises. The party’s leaders fanned out on the Sunday talk shows to question the legality of the moves and insist the only path forward is for the White House to go back to negotiations that stalled out last week. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on ABC that the president’s Saturday moves were “a big show, but it doesn’t do anything.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, called the four actions “absurdly unconstitutional. “The kindest thing I can say is he doesn’t know what he’s talking about or, something is wrong there. Something is very, very wrong there,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.” But Democrats seemed unsure of their next step. Neither Mrs. Pelosi nor Mr. Schumer said they would challenge the actions in court, and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin all but dared them to try. “If Democrats want to challenge us in court and hold up unemployment benefits to hardworking Americans who are out of a job because of COVID, they’re going to have a lot of explaining to do,” he said on Fox. Mr. Trump announced the moves at a press conference in New Jersey on Saturday. He said he was deferring payroll tax collections for those with incomes up to $100,000, starting in September; renewing enhanced unemployment benefits, though at $400 a week — down from the $600 that was in the March coronavirus package that cleared Congress; deferring student loan payments and forgiving interest accrued; and renewing a moratorium on housing evictions. Mr. Trump also said he was weighing additional income tax relief and capital gains tax cuts. The moves left some Republicans uneasy about Mr. Trump’s expansive claims of power. Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican, compared the payroll tax deferral cut to President Obama’s 2012 DACA policy, when the Democrat claimed power to halt deportations and grant some taxpayer benefits to potentially millions of illegal immigrants. “The pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop,” he said. Mr. Obama justified his policy on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by saying he had tried to negotiate with Congress but was stymied.
