President Trump announced on Sunday that he would use the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 in a move to have Congress get rid of what he calls “wasteful spending” and boost the stimulus checks for up to the amount that he demanded.
Previously, Trump has stated that he would be signing the COVID stimulus package and the government spending bill. However, he disagrees with some of the amounts that were allocated in the bill, and for this reason, he plans to use the Impoundment Control Act (ICA).
“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,'' Trump said in the statement.https://t.co/TCvoMaD3O4
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) December 28, 2020
The Impoundment Control Act will enable President Trump to impound funds once he provides a “special message.” According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Upon sending the message, amounts proposed for rescission (that is, for permanent cancellation) may be impounded for a period of 45 days of continuous congressional session.”
In connection to this, President Trump stated that it is his responsibility to protect the people from hardship and economic devastation that was caused by what he calls as “China Virus,” Trump also added that he understands how there are a lot of small businesses that were forced to stop their operations due to the strict lockdown restrictions imposed by states that are run by Democrats. The President continued that although many people are already back to work, he said that his job is not yet done until all Americans are back to work.
President said, “Fortunately, as a result of my work with Congress in passing the CARES Act earlier this year, we avoided another Great Depression.” He continued, “Under my leadership, Project Warp Speed has been a tremendous success, my administration and I developed a vaccine many years ahead of wildest expectations, and we are distributing these vaccines, and others soon coming, to millions of people.”
President Trump also emphasized that he already relayed to Congress his desire to have less “wasteful spending” and instead have more budget for the American people through his proposed $2000 stimulus package and $600 for each child.
Trump says he's signing the stimulus bill "with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed."
"I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item… insisting that those funds be removed from the bill." pic.twitter.com/mBwNihEIvs
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) December 28, 2020
The Republican President added that he would sign the Omnibus and Coronavirus stimulus package with a strong message. This message that he refers to is intended to clarify to Congress that the “wasteful items” have to be removed. Trump said that he would send back to the Congress a redlined version of the bill, item by item, and it will be accompanied by the formal rescission request to the Congress, urging them to remove those wasteful allocations from the bill.
The President also added that he would be signing the bill to bring back unemployment benefits, stop evictions, give rental assistance, add more funds for PPP, help airline workers back to work, and add substantially more funds for vaccine distribution more.
On Monday, Trump said, “the House will vote to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000. Therefore, a family of four would receive $5,200.” He continued that “Congress has promised Section 230, which unfairly benefits Big Tech companies at the expense of the American people, will be reviewed, and this should either be terminated and substantially reformed.”
