Trump says he may 'suspend' payroll tax himself
President Trump told Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning that he may suspend the payroll tax himself, in a bid to aid the economy amid the coronavirus. Yahoo Finance's Sibile Marcellus and Kristin Myers discuss.
Video Transcript
KRISTIN MYERS: Well, as stimulus negotiations continue to drag on, the president is saying that he might take some of the matters into his own hands. So for more on that, we're joined now by Yahoo Finance's Sibile Marcellus. Hey, Sibile.
SIBILE MARCELLUS: So although lawmakers are telling us they're making progress, we're still basically seeing a stalemate when it comes to this next round of fiscal stimulus. They have yet to make a deal.
President Trump, out of frustration, has already said that he's willing to use his powers as president through an executive order to provide relief to Americans as quickly as possible. This morning on the "Fox and Friends" show, this is what President Trump said. Quote, "Well, I may do it myself. I have the right to suspend it, and I may do it myself. I have the absolute right to suspend the payroll."
And there President Trump is talking about suspending payroll taxes to help Americans who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, he's faced criticism for wanting to do that because that doesn't address the financial pressures that about 30 million Americans who are currently unemployed are facing. If you're not receiving a paycheck, the payroll-tax cut is not going to help you.
President Trump, also through executive order, wants to suspend evictions. That can also be done through the moratorium we saw in the CARES Act with the new round of fiscal-stimulus legislation, but Congress has yet to make a deal.
This is also worrisome is that at the end of this week, the Senate is scheduled to go on recess. So lawmakers thinking about going on vacation. Meanwhile, the American people, those who are unemployed, have not received any relief. As we know, last week the additional $600 in weekly unemployment benefits expired, and we don't know if that's going to be renewed for Americans.
KRISTIN MYERS: All right, thanks so much, Sibile.
