Hillary Clinton expressed her frustrations with Donald Trump’s use of his executive power following collapsed conversations between Republicans and Democrats with Congress in seeking to put together a second stimulus package. On Saturday, the president deferred payroll taxes and replaced the expired unemployment benefits with an extra $400 bonus rather than the previous $600 that was put in place as part of the first stimulus plan.
Appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy, the 2016 Democrat presidential nominee called Trump’s move a “stunt” and “unconstitutional.” Saying he’s attempting to bypass Congress and “spend money that he has no authority to direct,” Clinton feels all of this is meant to be a diversion. She added that it has taken away from the “hard work that Congress should be engaged” in when orchestrating a second stimulus package. Though Trump stepped in to make up for the deteriorating conversations, Democratic congressional leaders and the White House remain committed to finding common ground. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Fox News Sunday that “we have to reach an agreement” and that it will taken with them meeting halfway.
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In Clinton’s same interview on MSNBC, the former First Lady also spoke about Joe Biden, who will be running against Trump in November’s election, and his choices for a vice president. Calling it a “critical election,” Clinton said it’s important he makes the right pick, though noting that he has many “great” people to select from, including Senator Kamala Harris and Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer. In that discussion, she also took another shot at Trump, calling him a “wannabe authoritarian.”
In regards to talks of a second stimulus plan, some of the critical hold-ups lie in the allocation of financial resources for state and local governments in food assistance. There is a considerable discrepancy in the two sides’ plans. Pelosi said the difference is billions of dollars, “You understand how far apart we are just by that example.” Unemployment also remains an issue, and Trump’s move to lessen the extra weekly money by $200 and making states responsible for 25% of that will further add strain onto these governments. His other executive order involving payroll tax deferment has Democrats claiming it will dramatically impact Social Security and Medicare programs as money from there will be pulled. The need for more financial help in the form of a new stimulus plan has only increased over the past few months as COVID-19 continues to be a significant issue for the country with new cases and deaths continuing to mount up.
