Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Relief Orders Challenged: Are They Legal, And Will They Help?
AP: Trump End Run Around Congress Raises Questions On His Claims
President Donald Trump’s end run around Congress on coronavirus relief is raising questions about whether it would give Americans the economic lifeline he claims and appears certain to face legal challenges. Democrats called it a pre-election ploy that would burden cash-strapped states. ... After negotiations with lawmakers on the next package of pandemic economic assistance hit a wall, Trump used what he said were the inherent powers of the presidency to forge ahead on tax and spending policy that Congress says it is granted by the Constitution. (LeMire, 8/10)
The New York Times: Trump’s Orders On Coronavirus Relief Create Confusion
In a series of television appearances on Sunday, [administration officials] insisted that Americans would receive the aid promised by Mr. Trump, including a $400 weekly supplement to unemployment checks. But that funding will be contingent on agreement from state officials, who are already struggling amid budget shortfalls caused by the economic crisis, and the siphoning of aid from a federal fund for disaster relief in the middle of what is expected to be an active hurricane season. (Cochrane, Rappeport and Broadwater, 8/9)
Los Angeles Times: Trump Aides Struggle To Defend His Pandemic Relief Orders As U.S. Cases Reach 5 Million
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) denounced the orders unveiled by Trump on Saturday at his New Jersey golf resort as “meager, weak and unconstitutional.” In multiple interviews on Sunday’s news talk shows, she did not say whether Democrats would go to court to try to overturn the measures but urged a return to negotiations on the $3-trillion-plus relief package passed by the House in May. (King, 8/9)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Stimulus Orders Set Off Squabble
But with the November election approaching, any move to block the payments could backfire, Mr. Mnuchin suggested on the same program, adding that the White House was within its rights to move unilaterally. (Chaney and Andrews, 8/9)
CNN: Trump's Executive Actions: Breaking Down The Coronavirus Pandemic Aid
With stimulus talks stalled, President Donald Trump announced he would go around Congress to deliver aid to Americans affected by the pandemic. But a close read of the actual text of executive actions he signed Saturday suggests that even if they are deemed constitutional, they will not quickly deliver the aid Trump promised. They may not deliver much at all. Here's a breakdown of the actions, the many strings attached and questions about what they actually accomplish. (Holmes, Wolf, Luhby, Lobosco and Bohn, 8/9)
Politico: Trump’s Eviction Ban Would Leave Most Tenants In Peril
President Donald Trump’s vow to protect millions of Americans from the threat of eviction has one serious shortcoming: It would do nothing to help the vast majority of the country’s tenants. Lawmakers have been unable to agree on extending a federal moratorium on evictions as part of their negotiations over the next economic relief package. But the ban itself shields barely a quarter of the nation’s 44 million rental units — only residents of buildings that have federally guaranteed mortgages. (O'Donnell, 8/9)
