Trump Urges US Congress to Stop Evictions, Pass Stimulus Checks, Protect Citizens

On Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump urged Congress to immediately extend the recently expired moratorium on evictions and approve more stimulus checks for the coronavirus.

Inevitable evictions

During a press briefing at the White House South Lawn, Trump told reporters that Congress should work on stopping people from getting evicted to keep them from ending up in the streets. He also urged officials to quickly settle on getting financial support payments to the people who need them.

According to the New York Post, On Monday, Senate Republicans released the text of the $1 trillion coronavirus package after a week of talks with White House officials. Democrats, who passed a $3 trillion package in May, however, disagree with the recent passing on several points.

Democratic officials oppose a GOP-proposed liability shield for businesses. On the other hand, Republicans object to the Democrats' proposal to bail out states. And some conservatives are thinking twice on spending on the package the Republicans proposed.

The new bill would provide another set of $1,200 stimulus checks to most Americans, which was also included in the bill that Democrats passed in May.

On Wednesday, Trump said they want to take care of the people that the Democrats were ignoring. The US president said that payments were not enough claiming the officials were not providing financial support or not making them high enough.

Also Read: Trump Pleads People to Wear a Mask, Says Coronavirus Pandemic Will 'Get Worse'

The recently expired ban on evictions had protected the majority of renters that are unable to pay for their fees due to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The protection lapsed last week an estimate by the Aspen Institute states up to 23 million Americans are at risk of being evicted by October.

Short-term stopgap

This week, Trump proposed to pass a short-term coronavirus relief bill that Democrats rejected at the last minute, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

On Wednesday, Trump and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that if discussions between Republicans and Democrats do not reach an agreement by Friday, they should approve a stopgap measure that would prevent evictions and supply a small number of unemployment payments to the citizens of the United States.

However, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows stated after a meeting with top Democrats that they will not be able to approve a narrow, temporary deal or a broad, long-term agreement soon.

Meadows noted they are nowhere near coming to agreements about a deal and that it is inevitable for enhanced unemployment benefits to expire.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had previously rejected calls of the White House proposing a stopgap measure while negotiations were ongoing and instead insisted for an agreement on a package.

On Wednesday, Pelosi said they are unsure of why Republicans are so focused on passing a skinny bill that would do nothing to address the actual problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. She noted they would not be accepting the proposal and would wait until a comprehensive and full bill is agreed upon.