President Trump said Monday that he’s looking at unilaterally taking steps to stop tenant evictions, alleging such a backup plan might be necessary if a deal can’t be reached with Democrats on Capitol Hill for a new coronavirus relief bill.
“A lot of people are going to be evicted but I’m going to stop it because I’ll do it myself if I have to,” Trump told reporters at an event at the White House. “I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders and we’re looking at that very seriously right now.”
He didn’t specify what any of those powers were, though. His comments came as senior White House aides gave markedly different takes on where talks with Democrats stand. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters the White House was open to a bigger package but chief of staff Mark Meadows said both sides were very far apart.
Pressure is increasing for an outcome since enhanced unemployment benefits expired for some 30 million workers on Friday, and a moratorium on housing evictions also recently expired.
Trump spoke as the latest round of negotiations was under way in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The meeting with Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows lasted about two hours.
Schumer said afterwards that the group was making progress, and that the issue of executive orders had not come up.
“There are a long list of things that are needed and the good news is our Republican colleagues agree with a few of them,” Schumer said, adding: “The discussion is productive”
The group has met nearly daily for the past week, with limited signs of progress. Democrats have been holding out for a wide-ranging $3 trillion bill while Trump administration officials had been pushing a short-term fix for unemployment insurance, evictions, and perhaps a few other issues.
On Monday, though, Mnuchin said the administration was open to a comprehensive bill if a deal could be reached.
“The president wants us to get a deal so we can resolve these issues that are very important to the American public,” Mnuchin said, adding in response to a reporter’s question: “We’re open to a bigger package if we can reach an agreement.”
Schumer said that they spent Monday’s meeting comparing elements of a $1 trillion bill Senate Republicans unveiled last week to the more generous spending provisions Democrats have proposed.
Meadows sounded negative when asked if an agreement could end up north of $1 trillion. “We’re so far apart right now that’s not even a valid question,” he said.
At the White House, Trump was asked why he wasn’t taking part in the talks and he tried to insult Pelosi before insisting that he was involved.
“I’m totally involved, I’m totally involved,” Trump said, but he accused Democrats of “slow-rolling” the talks and said he might have to act on his own.
It’s not clear what steps the administration could take without the help of Congress on issues such as lapsed enhanced unemployment benefits or the expired moratorium on evictions — the two matters Trump has recently identified as his highest priorities in the ongoing talks. Both of those programs were authorized by Congress earlier this year but were designed to be temporary.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has pushed the boundaries on executive power, with steps such as declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border that he said allowed him to redirect Pentagon money to build a wall. His administration also has been aggressive in attempting to “reprogram” money by trying to move it from one account to another without congressional approval.
“Trump once again is trying to make an end run around Congress and act unilaterally in an area that generally requires legislative action,” said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. “Executive orders do not exist to replace legislation or the normal give-and-take between the branches in making law.”
The White House’s strategy in the negotiations has shifted multiple times in the past few weeks. Democrats passed a $3 trillion package in May that included an extension of the $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefits, new stimulus checks, aid for states and localities, and various other programs. The White House expressed opposition to that bill but did not begin negotiations with Democrats until recently. It also took the White House much longer than expected to broker a unified Republican proposal with the Senate GOP after blowback on several of the White House’s ideas. The GOP bill extended unemployment benefits at a much lower rate.
Despite intense partisanship on Capitol Hill, Congress often manages to act when forced to by a deadline. But lawmakers did not reach a compromise ahead of the expiration of enhanced unemployment benefits for about 30 million workers at the end of July. The partisan divisions and policy disagreements have intensified as the November elections approach, and the bipartisan spirit evident in the negotiations earlier in the year has disappeared.
This is one of the variables guiding the White House’s decision to explore unilateral actions. Two people with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, said talks were preliminary and no final decisions had been made. The preferred path is still to make a deal with Congress.
Stephen Moore and Phil Kerpen, two outside economic advisers to the White House, published a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Sunday urging Trump to declare a “national economic emergency” and announce that the Internal Revenue Service would temporarily defer the collection of payroll taxes. The effect would be to cut payroll taxes for workers, something Trump has long sought, although the legality of such a maneuver could come under immediate attack.
It was not clear whether this idea was under serious consideration among administration officials.
