In an exasperating bit of theater, President Donald Trump seemed to delight in bringing the country to the brink of disaster only to rescue it with his John Henry.
Since early last week, legislation to fund the government as well as provide a second round of stimulus had been awaiting the president’s signature.
Instead, the president left town, tweeting the package was “a disgrace,” and a threat to veto it.
Central to the bipartisan legislation was $1.4 trillion to keep the wheels turning through the fiscal year as well as $900 billion in economic stimulus to address the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
If the legislation were not passed by midnight tonight, the federal government wound grind to a halt.
The president waited until late Sunday to sign the measure.
Because the legislation passed with overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate, Republicans, especially, expected the president to sign the bill posthaste.
After all, the measure saves the country from certain disaster.
Unemployment remains a daunting 6.7%, more than double that of a year ago.
Some businesses — especially those in the hospitality industry — are still waiting to regain their footing upended by the pandemic.
The aid includes unemployment benefits to an estimated 14 million Americans for another 11 weeks with an enhancement of $300; another round of funding to cash-strapped small businesses; and protection from eviction for the estimated 17 million who are behind on their rent.
Among his complaints, Trump singled out the plan’s $600 direct payments for those earning up to $75,000. Instead, Trump proposed more than tripling the stipend to $2,000 a person — the sum championed by Democrats — and a deal-breaker for Republicans.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, supposedly with the president’s blessing, whittled the stipend to $600 to appease Republican demands.
Not willing to miss out on their own political theater, Democrats on Thursday misguidedly took Trump’s lead and called for a vote by “unanimous consent,” on a standalone bill to raise the direct payments to $2,000, to which Republicans predictably balked.
Better had Democrats stayed to the side.
