On Sunday, tens of millions of Americans lost many of the financial protections–from supplemental unemployment to eviction moratoriums to small business protections–afforded to them by the CARES Act passed by Congress in March, but a looming government shutdown will make things worse.
According to the Washington Post, lame duck president Donald Trump’s rejection of the coronavirus relief package passed by Congress before Christmas will be amplified by his simultaneous refusal to sign the omnibus spending bill funding the government.
Millions of federal government employees and countless contractors will be left without a paycheck as the government shuts down for an indeterminate time. The chaos created by Trump’s volatility will reverberate across the country.
“Not signing the bill also means that the federal government will be closed after Monday, which will idle a large portion of the federal workforce at the time when the pandemic is bearing down hardest on the American economy,” said Ernie Tedeschi, an economist and former Treasury official during the Obama administration.
Trump seemingly intentionally wants havoc to reign as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, having vetoed the Defense Authorization Act to fund military pay raises and projects, as well as the coronavirus relief and budget bills.
Congress, however, can come back into session on Monday to override Trump’s veto and to pass another stopgap spending bill, but Republican members of Congress who fear Trump’s wrath, even though he has just 24 days left in office.