The polls have consistently predicted that former Vice President Joe Biden will win the 2020 presidential election, leading to panic among those counting on a second stimulus check. If Biden wins the election, Trump will remain in office until mid-January of 2021 and retain his presidential power for that time. According to a CNBC report, economists are concerned that the president could refuse to sign a stimulus package into law if he loses.
According to CNN’s latest polling information, Biden holds 49 percent of the votes cast so far in the election, while Trump holds about 45 percent. In the short term, this could impact the timeline for a second stimulus check. If Trump loses the election, he could rescind his previous promises to pass the package, which would impact millions of Americans who are unemployed and are counting on more financial aid. It could also affect the economy as a whole since it would leave Americans with less spending money to keep the gears moving.
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“We’ve just had fits and starts of Lucy pulling that football away,” said National Holdings’ chief market strategist Art Hogan. “Clearly that’s not where the market is now. The door has been slammed shut. At best, we might see something during the lame duck [congressional session], but the market is starting to price in nothing until January.”
Of course, these anxieties are dependent on the hope that the U.S. Congress might pass a stimulus package at all between Election Day and Inauguration Day. So far, Americans have been given little hope in that prospect. The House of Representatives passed a stimulus package in May, while the United States Senate ignored it until July. Since then, they have been in an intense political stalemate with no signs of breaking.
This week, Americans were incensed when the Senate set aside its stimulus negotiations to focus on confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. After that, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate until Nov. 9 — after the election.
However, if the House and the Senate do manage to agree on a stimulus package, and Trump becomes the limiting factor, millions of Americans could be impacted. The U.S. is facing a “third wave” of the coronavirus pandemic, with new cases, hospitalizations and deaths on the rise. Those conditions will likely impact the already ailing economy for the worse, making financial aid more necessary than ever.
