President Trump is holding a press conference on Saturday afternoon, the day after promising to take executive action because of another failed week of negotiations on Capitol Hill to reach an agreement on a coronavirus relief bill.
The president said in a press conference Friday evening that his administration is “talking about” deferring the payroll tax, as well as continuing a moratorium on evictions and continuing expanded unemployment benefits, and deferring student loan payments through the end of the year.
How to watch President Trump’s press conference:
- What: President Trump holds a press conference
- When: Saturday, August 8, 2020
- Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey
- How to watch: On CBSN in the player above or on your mobile streaming device.
It’s unclear how the president might be able to do those things unilaterally, and the president did not specify the amount of the expanded benefits.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows would recommend that Mr. Trump take executive action to address the economic fallout from the crisis after negotiations stalled on Friday.
“At this point we’re going to recommend to the president that over the weekend we move forward with some executive actions,” Mnuchin said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she had proposed a compromise on coronavirus relief legislation to White House officials, offering to cut the bill by $1 trillion if Republicans added $1 trillion to their version, but said this offer had been rejected.
Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.
