Trump signs coronavirus relief and spending bill
US President Donald Trump has signed into law a $2.3 trillion (£1.7 trillion) coronavirus aid and spending package, averting a partial government shutdown.
The outgoing president plunged the government into chaos after refusing to sign the stimulus bill, which was approved by Congress last week.
Trump criticised “wasteful spending” and called for payouts to struggling Americans to be increased from $600 to $2,000.
The delay meant unemployment benefits were temporarily halted for 14m people across the country.
But Trump, who leaves office on 20 January after losing the election to Joe Biden, today backed down and signed the bill following pressure from both Democrats and Republicans.
The president had a deadline of midnight tonight to sign the bill, after which a partial government shutdown would have begun, putting millions of government workers’ incomes at risk.
It is not immediately clear why Trump, who spent the weekend playing golf at his beach resort, changed his mind.
He said he was signing the bill with “a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed”.
The measures include a $900m relief package, as well as $1.4 trillion in spending to fund government agencies.
The relief package also extends a moratorium on evictions that was due to expire at the end of the year, refreshes support for small business payrolls, provides funding to help schools reopen and aid for the transport industry and vaccine distribution.
It follows months of wrangling between Democrats and Republicans over a pandemic stimulus package that has sparked volatility on Wall Street.
US futures were trading higher this morning, with the Dow Jones on track to hit record highs again.
Republican senator Mitt Romney said he was “relieved” the emergency legislation had finally been signed.
“Help is now on the way to workers, families, and small businesses across the country who are desperately in need,” he wrote in a tweet.