Trump: Relief bill must have tax cut
President Donald Trump sought to draw a hard line on the coronavirus relief bill Sunday, saying it must include a payroll tax cut and liability protections for businesses, as lawmakers prepare to plunge into negotiations over unemployment benefits and other key provisions in coming days.
“I would consider not signing it if we don’t have a payroll tax cut,” Trump said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” Democrats strongly oppose a payroll tax cut, and some Republicans have been cool to it, but Trump said “a lot of Republicans like it.”
Trump also said “we do need some kind of immunity” in the bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has repeatedly insisted the legislation must include liability protections for businesses, health care providers, schools and others. Democrats oppose this, too.
Trump downplayed the spikes in coronavirus infections nationwide, arguing they are because of high levels of testing, something health experts in his own administration dispute. He also argued the economy is “expanding and growing beautifully,” blaming Democratic governors for shutdowns he insisted were designed to hurt him in November.
Trump’s comments come as Senate Republicans are exploring new limits on emergency unemployment benefits for people who were high earners before losing their jobs, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of internal planning.
If the White House and Senate GOP priorities make it into the bill, the legislation would effectively cut taxes for people who have jobs while cutting benefits for the unemployed.
McConnell is expected to introduce an approximately $1 trillion stimulus bill in coming days that will include a limited extension of the federal unemployment benefits approved by Congress in March. Those benefits are set to expire as soon as this week.
Republicans are seeking to curb the current infusion of federal spending on unemployment benefits as they try to constrain the overall cost of the relief package, which is likely to include expensive priorities such as state aid and school funding, among other urgent policies to deal with the pandemic.
With a substantial number of conservative Republicans wary of spending too much additional federal money, GOP lawmakers have discussed proposing the federal benefit be cut from an additional $600 per week to between $200 per week and $400 per week. The lower number is viewed as the likelier outcome in their bill, although aides cautioned negotiations are fluid and details remain in flux.
McConnell is expected to release the legislation this coming week.
McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will meet today to discuss the emerging legislation with Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has led talks with Congress on the previous four coronavirus aid packages, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“It looks like that, that new package will be in the trillion-dollar range, as we have started to look at it, whether it’s a payroll tax deduction, whether it’s making sure that unemployment benefits continue, without a disincentive to return to work,” Meadows said.
House Democrats passed a bill in May that would extend the $600-perweek threshold through January 2021. That bill would increase spending by roughly $3 trillion, and Trump threatened to veto it.