President Joe Biden, starting Friday, only days after his inauguration, has plans to take executive action to provide a stopgap measure on the financial relief to millions of Americans, as congress begins to consider his $1.9 trillion package, to help those affected by COVID-19.
President Joe Biden has since signed two executive orders so far, those orders were to increase food aid, protect job seekers on unemployment, as well as clear a path for federal workers and contractors to get a $15 hourly minimum wage.
Director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, had this to say- “The American people cannot afford to wait. So many are hanging by a thread. They need help, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to provide that help as quickly as possible.”
Brian Deesealso als stated that the orders are not substitutes for the additional stimulus that President Biden says is the four trillion in aid that has already been approved, including the nine hundred billion that was issued this past December.
Although most economists believe the United States can be restored to its former glory once the vaccines have been released to the mass public and distributed properly, the situation has caused a critical hit to the economy, seeing as the virus has closed businesses and schools. As of February, it was also stated that nearly ten million jobs have been lost, as well as thirty million households that have lost secure access to food.
In one of the orders signed by President Biden it asks the Agriculture Department to consider adjusting the rule for food assistance so that the government could be obligated to provide more money to the hungry. As well as, helping children who can no longer receive meals from school, as they are attending online classes, this will allow them to receive a fifteen percent increase in food aid. And the household that has the lowest income can qualify for the emergency benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the calculations for the food aid will become more generous.
This in return will also make it easier for Americans to calm direct payments from the prior stimulus checks and any other benefits that were also provided. This guarantees that workers who refused to take a job due to health reasons will be able to continue receiving unemployment benefits.
The second-order issued by the President was to re-instate the Union Bargaining rights that had been revoked by the previous president, Donald Trump, administration. This allows them to protect the civil service system and promote a fifteen dollar hourly minimum wage for all federal workers. He has also mentioned his plans to provide emergency paid leave to workers, which may put pressure on other private employers to boost their wages and benefits.
It has not been specifically stated when the relief packages will be released, but that officials are beginning to schedule meeting with lawmakers to discuss the proposal. On Thursday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki disclosed that this has the support from Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
But it is well known that not all Republicans are in agreement with this, and this could delay the passage in ways that could injure the economy. Press Secretary Jen Psaki has expressed that the President wants any deal to be bipartisan and meeting with the lawmaker’s process to talk through the plan is just the beginning.
Jen Psaki also stated that the President must balance the need for immediate aid against the risk of prolonged negotiations,- ” Part of the discussion we’ll be having with members is, what do you want to cut.” Chief Policy Offers at the chamber, Neil Bradly, stated on Thursday to reporters that Congress should focus on approving the National Vaccination and reopening schools budget with the support of the Bipartisan support instead of dragging out unnecessary negations. “We’re not going to let areas of disagreement prevent progress on areas where we can find common ground. We cannot afford six months to get the vaccination process working right… We can’t even wait six weeks to get vaccinations distributed and the schools’ reopened ”
