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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We'll talk about President Trump's executive actions announced on Saturday now regarding enhanced unemployment benefits, evictions, and student loan protections, and the payroll tax deferment for the last three months before the election. It's unclear how any of this will be set up, or if any of it is even constitutional or possible to enact or how quickly any American can receive any of the benefits. With tens of millions of Americans directly affected, including many people listening right now, we know, and with the ongoing disparities in who needs this the most, we will try to clarify now as well as talk about the politics.

We'll also touch on some democratic convention news with reports now saying Joe Biden is within a day of announcing his running mate most likely. With me for this is Daniel Strauss, senior politics reporter for the Guardian US. His latest article about the summer's primary elections is called The Squad Keeps Getting Bigger. Progressive Democrats See Wave of Victories. Hey, Daniel. Thanks for coming on. Welcome back to WNYC.

Daniel Strauss: Thanks for having me.

Brian: For unemployed listeners who have good reason to be confused right now, not to mention anxious about their finances, what did the president announce about extended unemployment benefits, and how it'll work?

Daniel: He announced a set of four executive actions. An executive action is effectively an order to direct federal agencies to act or do something in a certain way. One executive action was to halt federal taxes for people who going to have paychecks below $4,000. The second one was boosting unemployment insurance by $400 a week and then a third one was deferring collection of student loans.

Then there's a final one which tells the Department of Health and Human Services in the CDC to consider a moratorium on evictions. It's a little unclear about the legality of these executive actions because the constitution says that Congress has the power to spend money and set taxes, and the president can approve or veto these decisions. The president here is effectively circumventing Congress.

Brian: Let's take this one by one. In the best-case scenario, how quickly would that $400 a week of extended unemployment insurance or enhanced unemployment insurance start to get to anyone? This is the replacement that the president says he's ordering for the $600 a week enhanced unemployment, which expired on July 31st. How real is this? How quickly might anybody who just lost their $600 see this $400?

Daniel: It's a little unclear right now. The order goes into effect August 1st but the money could take weeks to reach people and really the amount advertised could be different depending on the claimants. It's a little unclear right now.

Brian: Depending on the claimant. Will people have to reapply in some way?

Daniel: I think so. Again, it's a little unclear at the moment.

Brian: How about the eviction protections? You just said, all he's doing is advising various federal agencies to consider an eviction moratorium. A federal eviction moratorium just expired as well. What exactly is the timeline for this in the best-case scenario?

Daniel: I think that one is sooner, but again, it's telling federal agencies to consider this, and the order was issued on August 8th. I think the most realistic estimate on when the moratorium will go into effect will be in the next few days.

Brian: How about the student loan repayments?

Daniel: That too is supposed to be imminent, but it's a little unclear right now. It depends on when those payments are due. I should also note that it waves interest fees on student loans until the end of the year. The president likes to advertise these like they are taking effect immediately, but there's definitely a lag time.

Brian: Should people contact their banks if they're not sure if they have to go back to paying student loans or is even that unclear?

Daniel: That's what I would do. Right now, it's a bit unclear and I think it depends also on what kind of student loan you have. If it's something like a Pell Grant, contacting your bank might not be the best course of action.

Brian: Right. You don't want necessarily let your bank say, "Aha, you have to give me money now." Right?

Daniel: Yes.

Brian: For people who are working, the fourth item was the payroll tax deferment. Is that mandatory for employers to offer because the president said so?

Daniel: Again, these are executive orders. These are really just directives to federal agencies here. At the same time though, this is probably the most effective order of the bunch. It's something that I think will force employers to really listen and act on the president's order, but it's a little unclear to me right now if we're going to actually see that.

Brian: For you as a politics reporter, if this goes into effect, it seems to me like he's setting up a contrast with Joe Biden because as of now, the workers would have to pay back that amount of payroll tax after the election. It's a payroll tax deferment, not cancellation. Trump says he will try to make that permanent, but he's saying Joe Biden won't. So far the promise is basically only for a loan between the Republican convention and Election Day. Then he's trying to set it up as an issue. Do you think I'm reading that right?

Daniel: Yes, I do. I think it's also important to keep in mind that the president likes to sign executive orders. He's done that throughout his administration, and he's argued that every time he does that, that is effectively the end of a problem. It's not really the case. As you said, the president is extremely concerned with setting up a contrast between himself and Joe Biden and is going to call attention to this over and over again. He's really interested in highlighting his power as the incumbent president versus Joe Biden, who is not an elected official right now. His argument is essentially, "I can do these things. I am helping the workers," as he would say and the vice president would not.

Brian: On the payroll tax cut, even the Republicans in Congress were against that. That was not in Mitch McConnell's bill any more than it was in Nancy Pelosi's bill. I think the reason is because everybody is concerned about the solvency of social security. For listeners who don't know, the income tax goes into the general fund. The payroll tax is supposed to be specifically for social security and Medicare funding, which are potentially threatened over the long term. The president says he wants to protect social security and Medicare at their current levels, and yet he's cutting the funding that would go directly to them. How does that work?

Daniel: [chuckles] This is another example of how the president is not and The White House is not always aligned with Congress and Mitch McConnell. At the same time though, the president is effectively the leader of the Republican Party, but at moments he has throughout this administration disagreed and offered contradictory arguments or policy proposals than Mitch McConnell and congressional Republicans, and this is just the latest example of that. In the end though, usually, Trump wins out.

Brian: Listeners if you're just joining us, my guest is Daniel Strauss, senior politics reporter for the Guardian US. As we're trying to get very practical about how the president's executive actions announced on Saturday with respect to unemployment and evictions and student loans and payroll taxes would actually kick in for you as well as the politics of it, and the constitutionality of these things. We can take a few phone calls for him at 646-435-7280 for Daniel Strauss from the Guardian US. 646-435-7280.

We're going to get to a little Democratic convention politics as well, which he's reporting on. Just at least one more thing on the negotiations about the benefits. The president says, "All of these executive actions are designed to bring Democrats back to the table for a negotiated legislative solution that would be more clearly binding and less constitutionally questionable." Had the Democrats left the bargaining table?

Daniel: There are if they've said for months that they have already put out their own bill and that Republicans have just been unwilling to even toy with the idea or consider them any detail, but yes. The house speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer have not met with the president for quite a while now. There is a stalemate, but we keep hearing from the Hill and The White House that there are incremental signs that they're coming closer to a deal, but we haven't really seen that yet.

Brian: Let's take a call from Andrew in Delaware. He says he's a tax lawyer. Andrew, you're on WNYC. Thank you for calling in.

Andrew: Hi, Brian. Thank you for taking my call.

Brian: What would you like to say?

Andrew: Okay. My concern is that the payroll tax cut that Trump is talking about pretty much doesn't do anything for those who are indigent, which is the most pressing problem right now. Obviously, the payroll tax cuts will benefit those who are employed at the moment. It does nothing for the indigent. That's the first thing we have to consider. Secondly, the executive orders he signed do not really let us know where he's going to get the funds from. Obviously, the Supreme Court has decided that he does have emergency powers to reallocate funds from other budget items.

The issue is that this is a pretty substantial amount, and I don't see it being reallocated from the defense budget for one. Obviously he does have a problem there where he might definitely need the Congress to pass it so that he can fund his executive order. Pretty much the executive orders are what pretty much have no basis. I guess it's something that shows that he is ready to act, but it does not solve the immediate problem, which is people being kicked out of their apartments, people going without food.

Brian: Andrew, thank you for those good points. Please call us again. Yes, that's one of the reasons that it's a constitutionally dubious exercise. Some of this that the president is proposing because Congress appropriates money and the president can't just take money from one department and give it to another department and outside groups are likely to file lawsuits against some of this stuff, holding it up in the first place.

Daniel Strauss, there's also the question of the state's role in funding the enhanced unemployment the way the president is laying it out here, and whether the states are going to have the money because the $600 came from the federal government. The $400 that he's proposing, he's saying a percentage of that, I think it's 25%, correct me if I'm wrong, has to come from the state. $100 out of the $400, if that's the right number and it's an unfunded mandate because he's also not agreeing with the Democrats that the states and cities, which are hurting so bad will get any federal aid.

Daniel: Right. That's another added rub to this entire situation where it's not really clear if the funding for this move is solid and that's why the $400, even though Democrats wanted something a bit higher is still a precarious number right now. It really depends on whether each state can fulfill that number.

Brian: The president's executive actions, since they don't include aid to state and local governments, don't include aid to schools that want to open in person like he wants them to. As we were discussing in our previous segment with our previous guest, it's expensive with all the ventilation equipment and extra space and transportation needs and everything. This [unintelligible 00:15:15] by not going through Congress and just picking and choosing which aspects of what would have been a negotiated bill. He wants to try to enact with the stroke of a pen. It also excludes money for elections. Of course, the Democrats want to make sure people can vote with 75% of the country eligible for mail-in voting because of the pandemic. The president by not even engaging that issue cuts out the possibility of spending that money for election security. That's also worth saying, right?

Daniel: Yes, that's a good point, and all of us, it's really unclear right now.

Brian: We have 30 million Americans on unemployment but here's a clip from the president from his news conference yesterday. He said this about the effect of his executive actions.

President Trump: After our news conference, Saturday night, and the pro-growth announcement, we're pro-jobs, pro-health safety, executive orders. The stock market went up 358 points today. We issue those executive orders and the stock market went up 358 points today. It is quite a reaction.

Brian: Daniel, I realize you're a politics reporter, not a business and economics reporter, but why is the stock market going up when people's rent and income protections are going down?

Daniel: The stock market is not the economy, is the short answer. I think the one thing to keep in mind about the clip you just played is that the president considers the stock market a key and preferable metric for his success right now. His poll numbers are not ideal but as long as there's more investment, there's more activity in the stock market and numbers like the Dow gains or the S&P gains in the past few days keep happening, the president likes to point to that as a sign of economic stability and success but that's just not what other indicators are suggesting. Stock market may be surging right now but unemployment is still high.

Brian: Paul in Washington Heights. You're on WNYC with Daniel Strauss from the Guardian US. Hi, Paul.

Paul: Oh. Hi, Brian. Hello to your guest. I wonder if your guest could speculate on the role of Steve Mnuchin. His one-percenter is doing most of the negotiating. Why doesn't the president just issue him an executive order and come to an agreement so we can get something solid?

Brian: There's actually another wrinkle to the Mnuchin story. Daniel, you're close to this than I am but what I hear is even though Mnuchin is a rich one-percenter as the caller says so he's not affected by any of this stuff. He's actually the softer line person in the administration. He's actually been in there trying to negotiate for real with Nancy Pelosi and Trump now has boxed Mnuchin out and replaced him with Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, who's even more of a hardliner on the budget. How much is that your understanding?

Daniel: This is true and especially the position that Mnuchin has held over the years. It hasn't always been a normal for the treasury secretary to be this involved in negotiations outside of his normal purview but that's exactly where Mnuchin has been. He's been a conduit between congressional leaders and Trump who still listens to him and still likes him. Lately, he's been superseded or eclipsed by Mark Meadows, the chief of staff and former head of the Freedom Caucus. This hard-line group of Republicans that made major spending decisions a little more difficult for congressional leadership. They took a hard line fiscally conservative approach and Meadows is doing exactly that throughout these negotiations.

Brian: This is WNYC FM. HDN-AM, New York. WNJT-FM 88.1, Trenton. WNJP 88.5, Sussex. WNJY 89.3 Netcong and WNJO 90.3 Toms River. We are in New York and New Jersey Public Radio. A few more minutes with Daniel Strauss, senior politics reporter for the Guardian US. Let's spend these remaining few minutes talking about Democratic Party politics. Your article from Saturday is about the wave of victories by progressives in Democratic primaries this summer. Headline, The Squad Keeps Getting Bigger. What's the big picture as you see it? I understand that there's some back and forth about whether AOC will get a speaking slot at the convention next week. What can you report about that? Will any of these progressives be represented on virtual stage in prime time in convention week next week?

Daniel: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is slated to appear the second night on Tuesday of the DNC next week, that's what they announced this morning.

Brian: Oh, that's news. That's brand new, right?

Daniel: Yes, the DNC sent out a release with the schedule for events and she's listed on Tuesday alongside Sally Yates and Chuck Schumer and Bill Clinton.

Brian: On Tuesday?

Daniel: Yes.

Brian: What else you got from that? Anything? Since you have that there in front of you and I haven't seen it. Any other?

Daniel: Conspicuously in the schedule, Kamala Harris has a speaking slot on Thursday, and Gretchen Whitmer is on Monday, but one person who is not listed on the speaking schedule is Susan Rice. The three women I mentioned including Rice, are all serious contenders to be Vice President Biden's running mate. It's easy to wonder if Rice's omission from the schedule is because she is the VP pick, and she will appear on Wednesday during the slot that currently is listed as the vice presidential nominee right before the former President Obama. [crosstalk] times for each day.

Brian: [crosstalk] It's almost too obvious. Is this some kind of a decoy? Yes, he can move these things around.

Daniel: Yes. Look, the past few days has been tinfoil hat era for reporters and political reporters and me included who have been poring over these websites that can track planes and we've been talking to donors who sometimes don't know anything who like the puff up their chests. We wonder if Biden is at his beach home and if that indicates that Kamala Harris is there with him because she comes from a state that faces a body of water, just ridiculous things like that.

To go back to your original question, unlike, I think, 18 months ago, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has seen some serious gains. They've knocked off incumbents. Cory Bush in Missouri defeated a long time incumbent politician, and then, of course, Jamaal Bowman in New York defeating Eliot Engel. The importance here is that these are much needed wins for the progressive wing of the party after a long string of losses, including Bernie Sanders near-miss of the presidential race.

The larger implications here is that it is a sign that lawmakers and the larger infrastructure in the Democratic Party simply can't ignore the liberal wing of the Democratic Party right now. They do have some influence. They do have some campaign power, and it is likely that in the next Congress, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the so-called squad of influential liberal members of Congress is going to grow in numbers.

Brian: Does Bernie Sanders get a speaking slot at the convention?

Daniel: That's a good question. I believe he does on Monday. The two major stars in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party have speaking slots. Honestly, though, I don't think the Democratic National Committee or convention planners could get away without giving those two speaking slots.

Brian: Yes. The Republicans are running on Joe Biden who may have been something of a moderate in his past career, caving to the Bernie AOC wing with the party platform, and Joe Biden equals "The squad" at this point. You see that on Fox News all night.

Daniel: Right. Look, this cycle, the Republican National Committee in the Trump campaign have been a little frustrated in figuring out a course of attack for Joe Biden. Surprisingly, at least to me, they haven't been able to really settle on one attack theme was that Biden is too old, too dotty or that he's too liberal or he is out of touch with his party and the broader electorate. None of these themes have been long-standing ones that Republicans have hit Biden on. That's to the frustration of the Republican Party. They see that they need an effective criticism of him in these final few months before the election.

Brian: The last thing, as you look forward to the convention and listeners, obviously will be doing a lot of convention coverage. Here on the station, we'll have the speeches at night. We'll play excerpts and break them down and have guests here on the show during the Brian Lehrer Show, also during all of it, but if the democrat energy is as a starting point, "Oh my God, Trump is a racist authoritarian. We have get Trump out of office." What's going to be the message from the convention as far as you could tell about what the democrats will do themselves instead besides be non-Trump?

Daniel: Former Vice President Biden, he's promised in the past to say his first action on day one would be to beat Donald Trump, which doesn't make sense. The larger thing is that it is a more mature leadership. The argument is that democrats-- If they retake The White House, they will be able to take a more serious approach to combating the coronavirus pandemic. They will be able to improve employment numbers and they will help stabilize the economy and reestablished the United State's position as a leader on the global stage. These are the broad themes here. It's really about just becoming more serious in governing. That's their argument.

Brian: Daniel Strauss, senior politics reporter for the Guardian US. Thanks, Daniel for doing double duty here and reporting both on the president's executive actions on pandemic finances and their implications and on the Democratic convention and breaking some news even about AOC and Bernie having speaking slots. Very, very informed guest.

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