While some believe President Donald Trump’s executive orders will face legal challenges, others, including White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro, are arguing they will withstand them.
The host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” Chuck Todd suggested on Sunday some of Trump’s provisions look “legally dubious” and asked Navarro what gives him confidence Trump has the power to postpone collecting taxes.
“I’m confident every single one of those orders, which cleared through the Office of Legal Counsel, will stand up,” Navarro said.
He added, “If you look, for example, at the eviction and foreclosure language…the words ‘shall consider,’ well that’s how you have to write it, but everybody knows in that bureaucracy that you damn well should do it and they will. So there’s that. The payroll tax cut, we clearly have the authority to do that, that can be done easily through the Treasury Department.”
Check out his comments below:
NEW: @PeterNavarro45 says “it doesn’t help when Speaker Pelosi goes out … with her scarves flying and beats the heck out of us.” #MTP@chucktodd: “Where is the president? Why was he at his golf club all weekend?”
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 9, 2020
Navarro: He "is the hardest working president in history.” pic.twitter.com/XmR51PYFRu
Trump signed the executive orders on Saturday after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on the next coronavirus relief package, as IJR previously reported.
Navarro noted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was a “strong supporter” of the payroll tax cut in 2012 and former President Barack Obama used bonds funding to “make sure social security was not harmed in any way.”
He claimed Trump “strongly” supports the “integrity” of social security.
Navarro turned his attention to negotiations expressing his disappointment with how they have gone thus far.
“The question the president has is whether the Democrats really are sincere when they come to the table,” Navarro said.
He added, “It doesn’t help when Speaker Pelosi goes out after every day with her scarves flying and just beats the heck out of us for being cruel people.”
Trump’s executive orders include provisions for unemployment relief, a payroll tax cut, a moratorium on evictions, and a suspension of interest on student loan payments until the end of the year, as IJR previously reported.
