Trump freezes 2nd COVID-19 relief aid [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• On Thursday, President Donald Trump said that he suspended the second wave of COVID-19 relief because of the Democrats’ additional budget request to aid the Postal Service and the upcoming November election.
• Trump has continuously opposed to the idea of mail-in voting, saying without any evidence that it was susceptible to fraud and cheating.
• In their failed consensus last Friday, the White House negotiating team and top Democrat lawmakers had about $2 trillion differences in their proposal.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the primary reason why he still holds COVID-19 relief was because of top Democrat lawmakers’ requests for additional budget to fund the US Postal Service and election-related expenditures for the November election.

White House negotiators have rejected Democrats’ calls for more money to aid US elections officials prepare for the general elections, Trump said.

Both parties had around $2 trillion differences in their respective provisions. Americans blamed both sides for the failed agreement which had resulted in the expiration of weekly aid to unemployed people of $600, according to Reuters/Ipsos poll this week.

Referring to Democrats’ request to provide $25 billion to the post office, Trump told Fox Business Network: “The items are the post office and the $3.5 billion for mail-in voting… If we don’t make the deal, that means they can’t have the money, which means they can’t have universal mail-in voting. It just can’t happen.”

The president has continuously refuted the suggestion of mail-in voting, saying it was prone to cheating without providing evidence. There is little proof that mail-in voting is susceptible to fraud, election experts said. This way of voting would allow citizens to participate in the election without the need to gather which prevents the opportunity of spreading the coronavirus.

The last time Trump’s negotiating team, which is composed of Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, talked with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was last Friday.

The Postal Service was badly hit in the last quarter, losing over $2.2 billion based on its report. New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has instructed major changes in postal operations and restricted overtime pay in response to the crisis.

Source: AOL.com