By Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell
PALM BEACH / WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. government was heading for a chaotic end of the year after President Donald Trump’s refusal to pass a $ 2.3 trillion aid plan led to millions of Americans unemployed lost subsidies, also threatening the closure of federal agencies for lack of funds.
Trump, who leaves office on January 20 after losing reelection in November, was pressured Sunday by Republican and Democratic lawmakers to stop blocking the pandemic aid and government funding bill that Congress passed last week. .
The Republican president has demanded that Congress change the bill to increase the size of personal assistance checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000.
Many economists agree that financial aid in the bill should be higher to get the economy moving again, but say what is urgently needed is immediate support for Americans affected by measures to contain the coronavirus. .
Unemployment benefits provided to some 14 million people through pandemic programs expired on Saturday, but could restart until mid-March if Trump signs the bill.
Additionally, that package includes $ 1.4 trillion in spending to fund government agencies. If Trump does not sign, he will start a partial government shutdown on Tuesday that would put the income of millions of public employees at risk, unless Congress intervenes with an interim measure that the president accepts.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey told “Fox News Sunday” that Trump should pass the bill now, and then push for more unemployment money later.
“I understand the president would want to send bigger checks around the world, (but) I think what he should do is sign this bill and then push (for the aid hike). Congress can pass another bill. “said Toomey.
Trump spent the Christmas holidays at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. On Sunday morning, he seemed in no rush to try to resolve the showdown with Congress as he made his way to the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Americans are living through a bitter Christmas season amid a pandemic that has claimed nearly 330,000 lives in the country, with a daily death toll now repeatedly exceeding 3,000, the highest since the pandemic began. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell; written by Alistair Bell; Edited in Spanish by Janisse Huambachano)
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