President Joe Biden plans to issue two executive orders on Friday to deliver additional aid to families hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reports.
Biden, who has already signed multiple executive orders rolling back some of his predecessor’s policies, will use Friday’s action to expand food aid and speed up the delivery of stimulus checks, among other measures.
The executive order will undo some of Trump’s attempts to limit benefit programs to families amid the pandemic.
The move comes ahead of negotiations over the next round of coronavirus relief funding. Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion rescue plan that includes among many other things $1,400 checks, state and local aid, and raising the federal minimum wage to $15.
“We are at a precarious moment in our economy,” Brian Deese, the head of the National Economic Council, said Thursday. “The American people cannot afford to wait. So many are hanging by a thread.”
Economic relief:
The orders will expand food stamps by 15% to 20% for about 12 million families who rely on food aid. The benefits were already approved by Congress but Trump did not expand the benefits to families receiving the maximum food stamp benefit.
The order will also include an extra $100 every two months to replace free school meals for eligible families.
The order will also call on the Treasury Department to find ways to deliver stimulus checks that have not yet arrived. As many as eight million eligible people have still not received their $600 December check and some still haven’t received the $1,200 payment approved in March.
Employment protections:
Biden’s second order will also allow workers to receive unemployment benefits if they quit jobs because they are worried about their health.
The second order also rolls back some of Trump’s executive actions that limited the bargaining rights of federal employees and gave the president more leeway to fire workers.
It also directs federal agencies to develop “recommendations to promote a $15 per hour minimum wage” for federal workers who earn less.
