Trump Says He’s Considering Signing An Executive Order To Halt Evictions Amid COVID-19

The spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus pandemic, has caused many Americans around the country to lose their employment due to the economic fallout. The steep rise in unemployment has forced many to fall behind on their bills, including their rent or mortgage payments, with landlords closing in on tenants who don’t know how they will continue moving forward. As more states allow landlords to move forward with potential eviction cases, President Donald Trump has announced that he is considering offering some resolution to halt evictions.

In a news conference held on Wednesday, Aug. 5, Trump said that he is considering signing an executive action to prevent landlords from evicting their tenants and is looking into providing more relief for unemployed workers due to the public health crisis. This news comes as the Senate is considering whether or not to continue the additional COVID-19 relief payments with unemployment. According to the New York Daily News, roughly 23 million people could potentially be evicted by October due to the pandemic if the government does not intervene.

“My administration is exploring executive actions to provide protections against eviction. Eviction is a big problem—very unfair to a lot of people. It wasn’t their fault that this virus came from a far away land,” said Trump at the conference, according to CBS News. 

“As well as additional relief to those who are unemployed as a result of the virus, very importantly I’m also looking at a term-limited suspension of the payroll tax,” the president continued. “Something that has great support from many many sides especially some of our top economists and some people that we have great respect for.”

“By Friday if we haven’t made significant progress and we’re just too far apart, the president is prepared to take an executive action on those two items,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said in a CNN interview about the matter. “The good news for your viewers is if Congress can’t get it done, the president of the United States will.”