UNITED STATES−On Sunday, December 27, President Donald Trump signed the coronavirus relief package with Americans receiving payments of $600 for individuals with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 annually or less. The POTUS signature will prevent a government shutdown.
Pelosi delayed and damaged the country for months, but @realDonaldTrump just signed COVID Relief into law.
Paycheck Protection is renewed. Thousands of small businesses will be able to keep doors open and workers paid. Thank you, Mr. President, for putting people over politics.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 28, 2020
On December 22, President Trump made a video announcement to Congress deriding the $2.3 trillion that included appropriations for items such as gender reassignment surgery in Pakistan, the creation of two new Smithsonian museums, and hundreds of thousands dollars-worth of what President Trump called, “wasteful” provisions for foreign governments.
President Trump attempted to pass another version of the coronavirus relief bill that did not include the extraneous spending for foreign countries. The bill allocated $2,000 individual stimulus checks for Americans.
Top Democrats in both chambers agreed with President Trump’s additional funding for coronavirus relief, but ignored his attempts to discard the additional funds allocated to other countries. Congress agreed on the package on December 21 to fund the government and provide relief for Americans at the tune of $2.3 trillion.
According to, The Century Foundation, an estimated 12 million people lost unemployment benefits when two of the programs funded through the initial stimulus relief package expired on December 26.
I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in “pork”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2020
President Trump is under scrutiny for wanting to keep the pandemic relief measures inside the U.S. and for citizens rather than for the benefit of other countries and illegal immigrants.
Every year Congress must pass legislation for the fiscal year and it must be signed by the POTUS for the discretionary spending budget.
During a shutdown, all federal agencies must discontinue all non-essential services. Essential operations are only those that relate to public safety. Payments made are only for the appropriations made prior to the shutdown.
Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security will continue while National Parks, Air travel, Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service can be impacted by a government shutdown, in addition to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which provides food stamps to families.
