Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said that President Donald Trump and Republicans could have Democrats in a “difficult political position” on COVID relief funds.
As negotiations stall between congressional Republicans and Democrats on a fourth round of coronavirus relief, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have urged the president to address the issue via executive order.
Such an order would “unilaterally impose a stimulus plan and include a suspension of the payroll tax, an extension of federal unemployment benefits, an eviction moratorium and another round of individual stimulus checks,” Fox Business reported while acknowledging that the constitutionality of such an action is unclear.
During the Friday afternoon “Bill Hemmer Reports” segment on Fox News, guest-anchor John Roberts referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s contention that such an action would be challenged in court and then asked Wallace if such a move would be a “loser politically.”
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“Well, that is exactly right,” Wallace responded. “Remember when the president has done this before where he’s taken money that Congress [approved] to approve it for something else and repurposed as he did for funding for the border wall? That is something that Democrats didn’t want.”
Wallace argued that even if Democrats “are not satisfied” with the level of federal benefit granted by such an executive order, it still “gets pretty delicate.” (RELATED: WALL: President Trump Plans To Sign An Executive Order Suspending The Payroll Tax. The American People Will Thank Him)
“Do the Democrats go to court and say we want to stop that payment of $400 to people who are struggling right now and may be kicked out of their homes?” said the Fox News anchor. “Do we want to fight back against the eviction moratorium? That is a difficult political position that the president and Republicans may be putting the Democrats in.”