President Donald Trump responded to collapsed stimulus talks with a series of executive actions undermining Congressional power that are unlikely to provide substantial economic relief and may face legal challenges. Trump said he would bypass Congress during a news event held at his private New Jersey golf club, where members cheered him on as he signed orders on unemployment, evictions, students loans, and payroll tax, which he claimed “will take care of pretty much this entire situation,” according to the Washington Post.
It was the second such event in two days, with Trump giving “paying members a front-row seat to a campaign rally, a news conference and the official signing of executive orders all wrapped up into one,” noted the Post. The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman questioned the optics of Trump, who has essentially been a bystander to stimulus discussions happening in Washington, addressing an economic relief plan in such a setting. “Some of [the members looking on] are holding glasses of wine as people are facing the threat of eviction or getting laid off,” she said on CNN, adding that the strategy could backfire if he doesn’t follow through. The actions include an eviction moratorium, additional unemployment benefits, a temporary delay of payroll tax collection for people who earn less than $100,000, and an extension of student loan relief through year’s end.
Yet much of what Trump announced on Saturday appears untenable, legally fraught, or limited in its impact on workers. “Even conservative groups have warned that suspending payroll tax collections is unlikely to translate into more money for workers,” writes the New York Times’ Jim Tankersley. “An executive action seeking to essentially create a new unemployment benefit out of thin air will almost certainly be challenged in court. And as Mr. Trump’s own aides concede, the orders will not provide any aid to small businesses, state and local governments or low- and middle-income workers.”
“If job growth slows further, and millions of unemployed Americans struggle to make ends meet, Tankersley added, “he will need to make the case for why the symbolism of acting alone won out over the farther-reaching effects of cutting a deal.”
Trump said that if reelected in November, he would extend the payroll tax deferral, “make permanent cuts to the payroll tax,” which funds Social Security and Medicare benefits, and find a way to “terminate” what is owed. That probably won’t happen—or shouldn’t, as it would undermine power vested in Congress to make laws about taxes and spending. “Major changes to the tax code fall entirely to Congress, so Trump alone cannot waive Americans’ tax debts or enact permanent changes to tax law,” the Post notes.