President Trump signs multi-billion dollar emergency coronavirus relief bill

President Trump has signed into law a multi-billion dollar emergency coronavirus relief bill. 

The signing of the bipartisan bill came Wednesday evening, just hours after it passed in the Senate. 

The $105 billion bill provides safety net programs for Americans affected by COVID-19, including paid sick and family leave. 

The legislation also provides free testing for the highly contagious virus, which has infected more than 9,000 Americans. 

The bill passed in the Senate 90-8 on Wednesday afternoon, around the same time that Trump stated that he was on ‘wartime footing’ in a bid to combat the pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout. 

Trump also said Wednesday he’d use the powers outlined in the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of medical equipment to treat Americans sickened by the virus. 

‘There’s never been an instance like this where no matter what you have, it’s not enough,’ Trump said. ‘If we need to use it, we’ll be using it full speed ahead.’ 

Later on Twitter he clarified that he was signing it as a precautionary measure. 

‘I only signed the Defense Production Act to combat the Chinese Virus should we need to invoke it in a worst case scenario in the future. Hopefully there will be no need, but we are all in this TOGETHER!’ Trump wrote early evening Wednesday.

Trump signed the emergency coronavirus relief bill Wednesday evening after he earlier downplayed reports that Secretary Stephen Mnuchin had told senators that unemployment in the U.S. might hit 20 per cent. 

‘No, well I don’t agree with that. No, I don’t agree,’ he insisted during a White House press briefing on coronavirus Wednesday afternoon.

‘That’s an absolute, total, worst case scenario,’ he continued. ‘But no, we don’t look at that at all. We’re nowhere near it.’

In February, the unemployment rate was at 3.5 per cent and the highest in recorded U.S. history was during the Great Depression in the 1930s when rates reached nearly 25 per cent.

Meanwhile, Trump posted out several tweets on Wednesday in which Trump proclaimed Americans were ‘at war with an invisible enemy’. 

He also promised workers laid off due to the coronavirus would soon be receiving money.  

Trump’s signing of the emergency bill on Wednesday came as :

• He doubled down on calling COVID-19 the ‘Chinese Virus’, insisting the designation wasn’t racist 
• Markets tanked with the Dow dropping nearly 2,000 points 
• Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Utah Rep. Ben McAdams became the first two congressmen to test positive to COVID-19
• Coronavirus cases in New York City doubled in just 24 hours, with more than 1800 residents infected
• NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed he is close to calling a ‘shelter in place’ for the  city’s 8 million residents, despite Governor Andrew Cuomo criticizing the potential move
• Two hospital ships were mobilized to help deal with the coronavirus crisis in the US, with one sent to New York and the other to the west coast

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the package by an overwhelming bipartisan margin on Saturday. The exact cost has not been tallied, but the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the sick leave and family leave provisions alone would cost $105 billion.

Lawmakers are simultaneously trying to craft another emergency package that could cost $1.3 trillion – far more than the mammoth recession-fighting packages that Congress passed in 2008 and 2009.

That package could include two rounds of direct payments to Americans, totaling $250 billion each, according to a Treasury Department proposal.

Trump suggested on Tuesday these checks could amount to up to $1,000 each. Payments would be tiered based on income and family size.

‘People want to go big,’ he said at his Wednesday press briefing.

The plan also would provide $300 billion for small businesses, $50 billion in loans for cash-strapped airlines and $150 billion for loan guarantees to other distressed economic sectors.

Senate Republicans could unveil their own version as soon as Wednesday evening, Republican Senator Richard Shelby said.

Mindful of lingering voter anger over the 2008 bank bailout, lawmakers said any industry-specific aid should come in the form of loans that must be paid back. 

‘I’m not in favor of just handing over billions in taxpayer dollars to the airlines or others,’ Republican Senator Josh Hawley told reporters.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said expanded unemployment benefits would provide more robust benefits for a longer period than one-off checks.

‘This is not a time for small measures,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor. ‘This is a time to be bold, to be aggressive.’

Eight senators voted against the $105 billion House-passed bill on Wednesday. Some Republicans worried that the sick-leave provisions could heap costs on small businesses.

Senator Rand Paul, a conservative Republican, proposed paying for some of the new spending by ending U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. The Senate rejected that idea. 

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin privately warned this week that unemployment could hit 20% if Congress does not act.

Separately, the Trump administration also asked Congress for another $45.8 billion to shore up U.S. government agencies responding to the outbreak.

It would also give extra funds to help beef up sanitation efforts at airports, provide protective gear to federal agents, bolster cybersecurity protections, improve teleworking capabilities, and shore up the Amtrak passenger rail service, which has seen a steep drop in ridership.

House Democrats had concerns that the bill might also enable the Homeland Security Department to deport more illegal immigrants, according to an aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Early this month, Congress approved a first $8.3 billion package to boost the medical response to the pandemic.

Health officials have advised Americans to avoid non-essential travel and large gatherings in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

In a step aimed at limiting the spread of the virus among the lawmakers themselves, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said he planned to double the amount of time to vote to limit the number of members in the chamber at any one time.

On Wednesday, he warned his fellow senators not to linger during votes, as they normally do.

‘Come in and vote and leave,’ McConnell said.