Sen. Chuck Schumer halts bailouts to Trump businesses

In a letter to Democratic senators summarizing the package, Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the bill includes a provision that will prohibit “businesses controlled by the president, vice president, members of Congress, and heads of executive departments from receiving loans or investments from Treasury programs.”

The stipulation came amid negotiations on a portion of the bill that would provide $500 billion in loans to distressed industries. This money would be under the direct control of the Treasury Department, and distributed as bailout payments to hard-hit businesses, such as hotels and cruise lines, according to NBC News.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” New York's Senator Schumer was pressed on whether he believed the provision was unfair. He responded, saying, “I think the danger is much greater the other way, Joe, that if they get a financial interest then they’ll make policy decisions leaning and bending in that direction."

“Look," he went on to say, "I’ve always believed... that those who make the laws shouldn’t directly benefit monetarily from those laws. We’ve tried to get better and better and better at that, and this is just another example. It’s not aimed just at Donald Trump, but at anyone in high office.”

Trump’s businesses have been under intense scrutiny since he took office, with people accusing him of attempting to use his office to create profit for his businesses. When Trump was asked during Sunday’s White House coronavirus task force press conference if it was true that none of the stimulus money would go toward his own business, he expressed that he had forgone the president’s annual salary in excess of $400,000.

"Look, I ran and everybody knew I was a rich person," Trump said. "I built a great company and people knew that. But I agreed to do things I didn't have to. I still don't have to. But my company—I told the kids, who are running it—I'm not running it. But I told them, 'Don't deal with foreign companies. Don't deal…' I didn't have to do that. I could have just ran and I have—I didn't have to do that at all."

"And instead of being thanked for, again, not agreeing to do, but just not doing it, I get excoriated all the time," Trump continued. "So I've learned—let’s just see what happens because we have to save some of these great companies. They can be great companies, literally, in a matter of weeks. We have to save them."

Under the new plan, Americans making up to $75,000 a year are set to receive checks for $1,200. Couples making up to $150,000 will receive $2,400, with an additional $500 per child.

The bill will also provide $100 billion in assistance for hospitals, $350 billion in assistance to small businesses, and $500 billion in support for corporations, including cruise lines and airline companies that have been hurt by the outbreak.