Trump criticized Democrats, saying “we just don’t think they’re giving enough” on a bill proposed by the House this week to help address the crisis.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking about an hour before the Trump’s address, said the Democrats would vote on their bill Friday. She said it was focused on facilitating free coronavirus testing, including for the uninsured, adding that it would secure two weeks of paid sick leave for people affected by the virus and fund food programs for the poor, Pelosi said.
Part of the partnership Trump announced was done in collaboration with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which will help direct potentially infected people to drive-through test sites at locations including Walmart and Target parking lots.
Senate Democrats had urged Trump to invoke the Stafford Act and other disaster declaration requests they say would free up more than $42 billion in funding for states available in the Disaster Relief Fund.
Trump said his declaration would open access to as much as $50 billion.
Trump also said he was waiving interest payments on all student loans held by federal government agencies until further notice, and he instructed Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to buy “large quantities of crude oil” for the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve.
“The price of oil went down quite a bit, so we’re going to fill it up,” Trump said.
Trump said he was also conferring new authority to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, enabling him to waive regulations and parts of laws -- such as hospital stay limits and state medical licenses -- to give hospitals and health care providers maximum flexibility.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.