Donald Trump plays golf, does not sign spending bill, while Congress braces for federal shutdown on Tuesday

Trump’s decision to sign the bill came less than a week after he demanded changes to it and had suggested that he would refuse to sign it.

The government was set to shut down Tuesday if Trump had not signed the bill.

Trump earlier hinted that there had been a development on Sunday, when he wrote on Twitter that there was “Good news on COVID Relief Bill. Information to follow!”

The bill that Congress passed last week must be signed into law by midnight Monday (Tuesday AEDT) to prevent many federal agencies from significantly scaling back their operations. After Congress passed the bill, Trump posted a video on Twitter announcing his objections to it, saying that stimulus benefits were too small and that foreign aid was too excessive.

Since he posted the video last week, White House aides have not offered public briefings on Trump’s strategy or plans. Instead, Trump has issued a series of tweets reiterating his demand for changes but not saying much more. Vice President Mike Pence is in Vail, Colorado and has also been out of sight in recent days.

The consequences of inaction would have been immense.

Starting Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees would have been sent home without pay.

In addition to a government shutdown, eviction protections for millions of Americans would have lapsed later this week, more than 14 million people would have lost access to unemployment benefits and no stimulus checks would have been issued.

When Trump released the video last Tuesday demanding the larger stimulus payments, House Democrats tried to move quickly to approve the measure, but they were blocked by House Republicans on Christmas Eve.

Trump stunned the nation when he criticised the stimulus legislation previously backed by his own administration as a “disgrace” and called on Congress to significantly amend it. Congress has not met Trump’s demands, and there are no negotiations that could realistically amend the bill for it to be quickly reapproved. Five days after Trump’s video, Congress and the nation are waiting for the President to clarify his intentions about the emergency relief package.

One person who interacted with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, in recent days said the President had not discussed the economic relief bill or the looming government funding deadline. Instead, Trump has been far more focused on his failed effort to reverse the election result, lashing out at Republicans in Congress and members of his own administration for not joining him in the fight.

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Trump discussed the issue while playing golf in Florida with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and issued several tweets calling for $2,000 stimulus payments instead of the $600 payments pushed by his own treasury secretary.

With Trump and Pence ensconced in resort towns, the incoming Biden administration seized on the void to say the Trump administration was exhibiting rudderless leadership.

On Saturday, Biden accused Trump of an “abdication of responsibility” that would lead to “devastating consequences”.

AP, The Washington Post