作为国会继续挣扎在...上前进的道路下一阶段冠状病毒松口气，总统唐纳德·特朗普周一表示，如果国会不采取行动，他将考虑采取行政行动。
“他们对人民不感兴趣，对失业不感兴趣。他们对驱逐不感兴趣——这是一件大事。驱逐——他们想驱逐很多人，”特朗普说。“他们将被驱逐。但我会阻止它，因为如果有必要，我会自己做。我在行政命令方面有很大的权力，我们现在正在非常认真地考虑这个问题。”
目前还不清楚在没有国会参与的情况下，政府正在考虑采取何种单边措施，尽管在国会山的整个谈判过程中，政府成员一直表示，总统非常关注失业津贴以及对房主和租房者的保护。
一位政府高级官员告诉美国广播公司新闻:“如果民主党继续想尽办法拒绝合理的选择，单边行动当然是一种选择。”
财政部长史蒂夫·姆努钦和总统办公厅主任马克·梅多斯没有回答记者周一在国会山提出的关于特朗普可能采取的任何行政行动的问题。
国会在如何推进COVID-19救助法案的问题上陷入僵局已有数周，因为此前救助法案中授予的一些福利和保护已经到期。
也许最有争议的谈判围绕着2008年最后阶段通过的每周600美元的扩大失业救济金冠状病毒宽慰。
民主党人认为，这种已经失效的福利是挣扎中的美国人的重要生命线。
但共和党人表示，这项福利给一些工人带来的报酬高于他们以前的收入，这反过来又抑制了他们重返工作岗位。周四，共和党人试图通过一项缩减的失业计划，该计划将在年底前向失业的美国人支付每周200美元的奖金。
财政部长姆努钦告诉记者@ MarthaRaddatz“毫无疑问”在“某些情况下”600美元的失业保险是找工作的一个抑制因素
当被问及反驳他的论点的研究时，他补充道:“在某些情况下，人们得到的报酬过高。”https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/1zceOdxULW
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年8月2日
威斯康辛州参议员罗恩约翰逊(Ron Johnson)提议延长就业期限，他说:“在我们的经济需要更多工人的时候，我们正在制造一种非常反常的激励，让人们继续失业。”
但民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)阻止了这一举措，他说这是共和党的一个政治噱头。
舒默说:“即使我们通过这项措施，各州说，人们不会得到他们的失业数周或数月，所有的原因是这个共和党核心小组的不团结功能障碍。”
民主党人还阻止了共和党人在周四将每周600美元的失业救济金延长一周的企图。
当参议院继续争论时，政府和民主党领导层之间的谈判周一在国会山继续进行。
经过一周的紧张谈判，姆努钦和梅多斯会见了舒默和众议院议长南希·佩洛西，再次讨论了该法案。
佩洛西形容周一的会议是“富有成效的”和“沿着轨道前进的”，但他说，在各方努力“理解需求是什么”的过程中，仍然存在分歧
舒默说，他们在周一的谈判中花了一些时间来研究民主党和共和党各自的提案。
舒默说:“通过查看具体的数字，以及各方认为他们可以对美元配置做些什么，这确实有助于我们理解这一点，并朝着更好的方向共同努力。”
新闻发言人南希·佩洛西说:“事实是，当我们达成协议时，我们就接近达成协议了。”@ MarthaRaddatz但没有提供时间表。https://t.co/gUHbMnXgofpic.twitter.com/EB6DJdLF2m
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年8月2日
共和党提案目前的成本约为1万亿美元。民主党的法案实施成本约为3万亿美元。
姆努钦和梅多斯迄今为止一直未能通过谈判达成一个精简的方案。
姆努钦在周一离开会谈时说，“如果我们能达成协议，我们愿意接受更大的方案”，并补充说，他们离更大的方案“更近了一点”。
但片刻之后，梅多斯反驳了他，称两党相距甚远，开放超过1万亿美元“甚至不是一个有效的问题。”
星期天，姆努钦出现在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中并说他和梅多斯将“每天都在国会山，直到我们达成协议。”
周一的会谈后，姆努钦说，他和梅多斯将于周二返回希尔继续谈判。
关于冠状病毒缓解最新阶段的谈判从一开始就充满了党派偏见。众议院的民主党人在5月份通过了一项3万亿美元的救助法案，但参议院没有采纳，多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔参议员认为民主党的努力是“党派的愿望清单”
在他们自己的会议陷入僵局后，共和党人于7月27日公布了他们提出的法案。舒默对该法案的回应是“半生不熟”、“三心二意”和“太少太迟了。”
Trump considering unilateral action as stalemate over coronavirus relief continues
As Congresscontinues to flounderon apath forward for thenext phase ofcoronavirusrelief, PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Monday that he was considering executive action if Congress fails to act.
"They're not interested in the people, they're not interested in unemployment. They're not interested in evictions -- which is a big deal. The evictions -- they want to evict a lot of people," Trump said. "They're going to be evicted. But I'm going to stop it, because I'll do it myself if I have to. I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders and we are looking at that very seriously right now."
It is not clear at this time what sort of unilateral steps the administration is considering taking without the input of Congress, though throughout negotiations on Capitol Hill, members of the administration have consistently stated that the president is keenly focused onunemployment benefitsand protections for homeowners and renters.
"Unilateral action is certainly an option if the Democrats continue to find a plethora of ways to say no to reasonable options," a senior administration official told ABC News.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the president's Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, did not respond to questions from reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday about any possible executive action by Trump.
Congress has been locked in a stalemate for weeks over how to move forward with a COVID-19 relief bill as several benefits and protections granted in the previous relief bill have expired.
Perhaps the most contentious negotiations have surrounded the $600-a-week expanded unemployment benefits passed in the last stage ofcoronavirusrelief.
Democrats have argued that this benefit, which has since lapsed, was an essential lifeline for struggling Americans.
But Republicans have said that the benefit was paying some workers more than their previous earned income, and in turn was a disincentive to return to work. On Thursday, Republicans attempted to pass a reduced expansion of the unemployment program which would have paid unemployed Americans a $200 weekly bonus through the end of the year.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin tells@MarthaRaddatz"there's no question" that $600 unemployment insurance is a disincentive to find a job in "some cases."
"There are cases where people are overpaid," he adds when pressed about study refuting his argument.https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/1zceOdxULW
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)August 2, 2020
"We are creating a very perverse incentive for people to remain unemployed when our economy is calling for more workers," said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who proposed the extension.
But the move was blocked by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who said the measure was a political stunt by Republicans.
"Even if we were to pass this measure the states say people would not get their unemployment for weeks and months all because of the disunity dysfunction of this Republican caucus," Schumer said.
Democrats also blocked an attempt by Republicans to expand the $600 weekly unemployment benefit for a single week on Thursday.
While the Senate continues to squabble, negotiations between the administration and Democratic leadership are continued on Capitol Hill Monday.
Mnuchin and the Meadows met with Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss the bill again after over a week of tense negotiations.
Pelosi described Monday's meeting as "productive" and "moving down the track" but said that there are still differences as the parties work to "understand what the needs are."
Schumer said that they spent time during Monday's negotiations going through the respective proposals by Democrats and Republicans.
"By going through the specific numbers and what each side thinks they can do with their dollar allocation, it really helps us understand that and move together in a better direction," Schumer said.
NEW: "The fact is we will be close to an agreement when we have an agreement," Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells@MarthaRaddatzon COVID-19 relief negotiations, but does not provide a timeline.https://t.co/gUHbMnXgofpic.twitter.com/EB6DJdLF2m
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)August 2, 2020
The cost of the Republican proposal as it currently stands is around $1 trillion. The Democratic bill costs about $3 trillion to implement.
Mnuchin and Meadows have so far been unsuccessful in attempts to negotiate for a slimmed-down package.
Leaving their meeting on Monday, Mnuchin said, "We're open to a bigger package if we can reach an agreement" and added that they are "a little bit" closer to a larger package.
But moments later, Meadows contradicted him, saying that the parties are so far apart that being open to more than $1 trillion is "not even a valid question."
On Sunday, Mnuchinappeared on ABC's "This Week"and said he and Meadows will be on Capitol Hill "every day until we reach an agreement."
Following the Monday meeting, Mnuchin said he and Meadows will return to the Hill to continue negotiations on Tuesday.
Negotiations over the newest phase of coronavirus relief have been fraught with partisanship from the onset. Democrats in the House passed a $3 trillion relief bill in May, but it was not taken up by the Senate and the majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, dismissed the Democratic effort as "partisan wish list."
After a stall within their own conference, Republicans released their proposed bill on July 27. Schumer responded to the bill calling it "half-baked," "half-hearted" and "too little too late."
