Coronavirus: Democrats lash Trump over aid as cases top 5 million

Democrat leaders have accused Donald Trump of abusing his powers in bypassing Congress over coronavirus aid.

Donald Trump signs executive orders extending coronavirus economic relief. Picture; AFP.

Democrat leaders have accused Donald Trump of abusing his powers in bypassing Congress over coronavirus aid as the number of virus cases in the US officially broke through 5 million.

The president has unilaterally signed a series of measures to provide economic relief to millions of Americans by changing tax and spending policy which is traditionally the responsibility of Congress.

He did so after weeks of deadlock between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over a proposed coronavirus aid bill of between $US1 billion and $US3.5 billion.

But Democrats said Mr Trump’s unilateral actions, which included deferring payroll tax and extending payments to the unemployed, exceeded his authority as president.

“The president’s meagre, weak and unconstitutional actions further demand that we have an agreement,” Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “The president’s executive orders, described in one word, could be paltry; in three words, unworkable, weak and far too narrow.”

Former Democrat presidential contender Hillary Clinton also attacked the president. “It’s a stunt,” she said. “There’s no doubt about it, it’s most likely, as even Republican senators have said, unconstitutional, bypassing the Congress, trying to spend money that he has no authority to direct.”

The breakdown in negotiations between the Democrats and Republicans in Congress came despite the two sides reaching bipartisan agreement over four relief packages in March and April with more than $US3 trillion.

Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden is also stepping up his attacks on Mr Trump as the total number of coronavirus infections in the US officially passed 5 million on Monday (AEST).

In a statement to mark the grim milestone, Mr Biden said Mr Trump’s failures of leadership had worsened the pandemic and deepened the country’s economic crisis.

“We continue to hear little more from President Trump than excuses and lies in an effort to cover for his repeated failures of leadership — failures that worsened the pandemic here at home, and in turn deepened our economic crisis,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden said no other country had been hit as hard as the US and no other high-income country was still struggling to control the spread of the virus.

“We are where we are today for one simple, infuriating reason: Trump waved the white flag and gave up. He didn’t want to deal with the pandemic, so he stopped trying. He didn’t do his job,” Mr Biden said.

But Mr Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, who has just recovered from COVID-19, said the White House was working hard on all fronts to end the pandemic.

“We’re going to fight like heck. We’re working hard on vaccines. We’re working hard on testing machines that are portable and fast. … We’re working on therapeutics,” he said. “I’m so impressed with our scientists and our doctors and our first responders and the folks who are attacking this disease, and God bless them all.”

The US now accounts for one quarter of the world’s coronavirus cases, with new infections now at around 56,000 per day, down from a peak of 76,000 last month but far higher than the roughly 22,000 per day in early June. More than 162,000 Americans have died.

Although coronavirus infections are rising in 13 US states, mostly in the south and midwest, this is down from the 44 states with rising infections one month ago.

A new poll in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin show that the pandemic continues to hurt Mr Trump politically.

A CBC News poll found that three in four voters in both states believe things are going badly in America. When asked who would best manage the coronavirus pandemic, voters chose Mr Biden over Mr Trump by 47 per cent to 37 per cent in Pennsylvania and by 47 to 32 per cent in Wisconsin.

The poll shows Mr Biden holding a six-point lead in both states which are traditionally Democratic but which voted for Mr Trump in 2016.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia