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On Sunday night, the White House said that President Trump has signed legislation for $900 billion in coronavirus economic aid and $1.4 trillion in government spending. It would provide handsome support for millions of Americans and to avoid a government shutdown. Point to be noted that President Trump signed the bill one day before the government was set to shut down, but not before unemployment benefits for an estimated 12 million Americans lapsed. Trump issued a statement and said, “I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more”.

Trump said he will be sending back a redlined version of the bill to address what he considers unnecessary funding. Moreover, he said the House will vote Monday on providing $2,000 relief checks to adults and $600 for children. The US Senate will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000. It is still unclear what will happen to this version of the bill since it would have to pass both houses of Congress. It is noteworthy that Republicans in the Senate have blocked extra payments in the past. The US Congress passed the package on 21^st December. But, Trump blasted the package in a surprise video posted to Twitter, last week.

President Trump also called for larger stimulus payments and other changes. He said in the video, “I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 dollars for a couple. I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package”.  The economic package provides $600 in direct payments for adults making up to $75,000 per year and children or $2,400 for a family of four. It also includes $284.45 billion in lending for small businesses, $25 billion in direct rental assistance, $82 billion for education funding, $45 billion for public transit systems, and $13 billion for increased food stamps and child nutrition benefits.