President Trump late today signed the stimulus bill into law, averting a Tuesday government shutdown.
His decision to back down and sign the measure will release $900 billion in stimulus funds into the economy that had been held up for nearly a week.
WAPO: Three sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose Trump’s move, which took place while Trump was vacationing in Florida.
They said Trump had repeatedly changed his mind on the matter.
Trump’s new decision to sign the bill came less than a week after he demanded changes to it.
He had suggested he would refuse to sign it into law unless those demands were met.
On Tuesday, he referred to the bill as a “disgrace.”
It was unclear what prompted him to change his mind late today, but he was under tremendous pressure from Republicans to acquiesce.
The government would have shut down on Tuesday if Trump didn’t act.
In addition to containing money to fund government operations, the spending package also includes emergency relief money that finances a new round of stimulus checks, unemployment aid, and small business assistance, among other things.
Before the signed the bill, Trump hinted this evening that there had been a development.
He tweeted that there was “Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow!”
Congress overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan bill on Monday night and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin praised it, something congressional leaders in both parties interpreted as a sign that Trump was supportive.
But the president released a video on Tuesday demanding changes.
He said, among other things, that the bill should have authorized stimulus checks of $2,000 per person instead of the $600 payments.
Trump also wanted spending cuts to be included in the package, a concern he hadn’t raised until after Congress passed the bill.
Before the video was posted, Mnuchin had said that the stimulus checks could be sent as soon as this week.
The $600 payments had been Mnuchin’s idea to begin with.
It’s unclear whether the roughly week-long delay would push back the issuance of the payments, or if they could still go out this week.
Trump’s declaration that he wanted changes made to the bill stunned congressional leaders and even many White House aides.
The spending and stimulus bill had been negotiated with Mnuchin and other White House officials, and the treasury secretary had praised the legislation in a Dec. 21 CNBC appearance.
In recent days, Trump issued a number of tweets appearing to continue his insistence on the $2,000 checks.
Authorizing the larger checks, however, didn’t seem politically feasible in time to avert a shutdown on Tuesday.
Many Democrats were supportive of the idea of larger stimulus checks, but a number of Republicans were opposed.
And approving such a change without unanimous consent in one day is not possible.
The consequences of inaction were immense.
If the bill isn’t signed into law by Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees would be sent home without pay.
And even the many federal employees who continue to work because they are deemed “essential,” such as members of the military, will not be paid until a new funding bill is authorized.
In addition to a government shutdown on Tuesday, eviction protections for millions of Americans would lapse later this week; more than 14 million people are losing unemployment benefits; and no stimulus checks would be issued.
Failing to sign the bill into law would also freeze new money for vaccine distribution, small business aid, the ailing airline industry, and school aid, among other things.
Today, lawmakers expressed a mix of frustration and fury that Trump had not signaled publicly what he planned to do.
“I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he’ll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said on Fox News on Sunday. “So I think the best thing to do, as I [said], sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on ABC News said the president was behaving as an “extraordinary narcissist” and was almost “pathologically narcissistic” in his eleventh-hour crusade against the bill.
“It is insane. It is really insane, and this president has got to finally . . . do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego,” Sanders said.
Millions of American families who have lost their jobs during the pandemic and are still struggling have no choice but to await the president’s decision.
Since Trump posted the video on Dec. 22, White House aides have not offered any public briefings on his strategy or plans.
Instead, Trump has issued a series of tweets reiterating his demand for changes but not saying much more.
Vice President Pence is in Vail, Colo., and has also been out of sight in recent days.