Schumer declines to say whether Trump executive orders are legal: They don’t ‘do the job’

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday declined to say whether four coronavirus relief executive orders issued by President Trump on Saturday were legal, adding simply that the measures don’t “do the job.”

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Schumer on “This Week” whether the orders Trump signed after negotiations with Congress fell apart were legal.

“I’ll leave that up to the attorneys,” Schumer responded. “It doesn’t do the job. It’s not going to go into effect in most places for weeks or months because it’s so put together in a crazy way.”

NEW: Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on the legality of President Trump’s COVID-19 executive orders, Sen. Chuck Schumer declines to say if they’re illegal: “I’ll leave that up to the attorneys. It doesn’t do the job.” https://t.co/mXqSebBaMG pic.twitter.com/tGrDpne0ml

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 9, 2020

“If he just would have renewed the $600 as we do in the HEROES bill through January, things would flow smoothly,” he added.

{mosads}Trump signed the four orders at his club in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday evening before a crowd of members. One order lowers the now-expired enhanced unemployment benefit from $600 to $400 per week, with states on the hook for $100 of that, and extends it through the end of the year. Another order defers payroll tax payments and a third defers student loan payments. A fourth aims to prevent evictions though does not appear to actually extend the moratorium on them. 

Schumer on Sunday also slammed Trump’s payroll tax deferral, pointing out that many employers will continue withholding taxes so as to not stick employees with a large bill when the deferral period ends. That doesn’t pump money into the economy, Schumer said. And, he added, if Trump gets his wish for a permanent payroll tax reduction, that depletes money from the social security and Medicare trust funds.

Anyone who receives Social Security or Medicare “better watch out if President Trump is reelected,” Schumer said.