Biden orders food, more stopgap aid
Broader $1.9T relief package continues to receive resistance from some in GOP
BALTIMORE – President Joe Biden took executive action Friday to speed a stopgap measure of financial relief to millions of Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic while Congress begins to consider his much larger $1.9 trillion package.
The two executive orders that Biden signed would increase food aid, protect job seekers on unemployment and clear a path for federal workers and contractors to get a $15 hourly minimum wage.
“This can help tens of millions of families – especially those who cannot provide meals for their kids,” Biden said. “A lot of Americans are hurting. The virus is surging. … No matter how you look at it, we need to act.”
Biden described the pandemic situation in the U.S. as bleak, saying the virus could not be stopped in the next several months and predicting that well over 600,000 would die. The nation’s death toll has just passed 400,000.
The administration has emphasized the orders are not substitutes for the additional stimulus that Biden said is needed beyond the $4 trillion in aid that had been approved, including $900 billion in December. Several Republican lawmakers have voiced opposition to provisions in Biden’s plan for direct payments to individuals, state and local government aid and a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide.
Most economists believe the United States can rebound with strength once people are vaccinated from the coronavirus, but the situation is still dire as the disease has forced states to close businesses and schools. Nearly 10 million jobs have been lost since February, and nearly 30 million households lack secure access to food.
One of Biden’s orders asks the Agriculture Department to consider adjusting the rules for food assistance so that the government could be obligated to provide more money to the hungry.
Children who are unable to get school meals because of remote learning could receive a 15% increase in food aid, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House. The lowestincome households could qualify for the emergency benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
And the formula for calculating meal costs could become more generous. The order also tries to make it easier for people to claim direct payments from prior aid packages and other benefits. In addition, it would create a guarantee that workers could still collect unemployment benefits if they refuse to take a job that could jeopardize their health.
Biden’s second executive order would restore union bargaining rights revoked by the Trump administration, protect the civil service system and promote a $15 hourly minimum wage for all federal workers. The Democratic president also plans to start a 100-day process for the federal government to require its contractors to pay at least $15 an hour and provide emergency paid leave to workers. These orders arrive as the Biden White House has declined to provide a timeline for getting its proposed relief package through.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Thursday briefing that the proposal has support ranging from democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
But not all components of the package are popular among Republicans. Psaki stressed that Biden wants any deal to be bipartisan and that the process of meeting with lawmakers to talk through the plan is just beginning.