President Donald Trump is prepared to pass a new stimulus bill that will provide relief for millions of people and businesses. He insists that Democrats are to blame for the holdup.
The bill includes direct payments to Americans, rental assistance, and provides money for small businesses, and state and local governments.
READ MORE: Trump signs 4 executive orders after failed stimulus talks in Congress
“I’m waiting for the Democrats to approve it,” said Trump. “Democrats are holding that up, right?”
The Democrats wanted a $3.4 trillion bill, called the HEROES Act, to pass. Republicans wanted to settle with a $1 trillion offer that included funding for schools, aid to state and local governments, and unemployment pay.
The battle also centered around negotiating a fair and reasonable amount for a second round of stimulus checks. It ended with both parties going into recess as Republicans would not agree to increase their offer by an additional $2 trillion.
Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decreasing her offer by $1 trillion, Republicans refused the compromise. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin called Pelosi’s $2 trillion price tag a “non-starter,” Fox News reported.
In a news conference on Friday, Trump also said he was blocking discussions about providing better funding to the Postal Service, which during the election when many Americans will rely on mail-in voting to secure their vote, could cost the Democratic party the election.
Last Saturday, Reuters reported Trump’s series of executive orders, including measures to handle unemployment benefits. The rollout of his orders has been slow, and many experts expect a serious delay in the execution of said orders.
READ MORE: Unemployment benefits are making people stay at home, according to Republicans
As theGrio previously reported, Republicans wanted to lower the number of unemployment benefits because some Republicans thought $600 caused benefactors to not want to return to work.
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