President Trump on Sunday night signed into law the $1.4 trillion fiscal 2021 appropriations and $900 billion COVID-19 relief deal Congress approved last week, days after criticizing the measure and signaling he might not sign it.
Lawmakers had reached the deal on Dec. 20 after months of on and off negotiations and approved it the next day. However in a video on December 22, Trump blasted the package, saying the stimulus payments were not large enough and the COVID-19 deal had funding for too many unrelated things. This sparked fears that there could be a government shutdown next week amid the coronavirus pandemic and presidential transition because the continuing resolution funding government while the spending and relief deal was sent to Trump’s desk was set to run out Monday.
But on Sunday night, Trump tweeted, “Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow!” This followed multiple news outlets reporting he signed the deal while at Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
“I will sign the omnibus and covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Trump said in a statement released on Monday night after the news broke. “I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.”
He continued: “I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for [the paycheck protection program], return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more.” He noted that the House will vote on Monday to increase stimulus ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
