Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement in response to Trump’s issuance of several executive orders and presidential memoranda:

“Today, Trump issued four highly questionable executive orders and presidential memoranda on payroll taxes, student loans, unemployment insurance, and evictions. These announcements, some of which may be unconstitutional, are not designed to provide Americans with the urgent relief they need from this crisis. They are merely the attempts of a charlatan President to once again pull the wool over the eyes of the American people. Unilaterally eliminating the payroll tax and ignoring Congress's power of the purse on funding unemployment insurance will do nothing to help Americans recover from this crisis. The executive order on evictions is perhaps Trump's most cynical move yet.

“It provides no new funding to assist renters and does not extend the eviction moratorium. Millions of people across the country still desperately need a true extension of the eviction moratorium as well as emergency rental assistance to help pay accumulated back rent.

“It has been 85 days since the House passed the Heroes Act, 39 days since the House passed my legislation to extend the moratorium and create a $100 billion rental assistance fund and a $75 billion homeowners assistance fund, and a week since the Republican Senate effectively slapped the American people across the face with an inadequate and insulting so-called relief bill. This charade by Trump attempts to paper over Republicans’ failure to act on legislation to avert this impending eviction crisis. The Republican Senate must put up or shut up and pass the Heroes Act. Lives are hanging in the balance.”

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