Mnuchin and Meadows to Urge Trump to Move Forward With Executive Orders Amid Negotiations

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will encourage President Donald Trump to issue executive orders after Democrats and Republicans have failed to make progress on the next coronavirus relief package.

Meadows told reporters he is “extremely disappointed” with how negotiations turned out on Friday.

“The chief and I will recommend to the president based upon our lack of activity today to move forward with some executive orders,” Mnuchin said.

He added, “Again, we agree with the speaker this is not the first choice but people have run out of the enhanced unemployment.”

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Mnuchin noted they will also recommend Trump issue executive orders on rental foreclosures as well as student loans.

A reporter mentioned a proposal put forth by Democrats calling on Republicans to meet them in the middle by bringing their existing $1 trillion offer up by another $1 trillion.

Mnuchin explained there are both “top-line issues” and “policy issues.”

He was asked what Americans can expect for unemployment benefits moving forward after they expired on July 31.

“We’ve made a compromised offer on UI as part of the legislation. I think it’s a very fair proposal that covers the issues, and again, we have been willing to compromise on UI,” Mnuchin said.

During a joint press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Republicans can either compromise and create a “strong” bill with Democrats or issue “weak” and “insufficient” executive orders, as IJR previously reported.

Trump declared on Wednesday during his press conference he is considering taking executive action if Democrats and Republicans are not able to reach an agreement, as IJR previously reported.

During a press conference Thursday, Pelosi disregarded Trump’s threat to issue executive orders.