Congressman Kustoff reacts to Trump’s latest executive order

BELLS, Tenn. — Congressman David Kustoff made his rounds at local businesses Wednesday morning, asking how he can help constituents.

“What I hear from a lot of them is one — ‘Thank you for the paycheck protection money. It’s very helpful. It allowed us to keep the doors open and bring employees back to work’. The second thing I hear is, ‘We’re having trouble getting our employees to come back to work because some employees make more money on unemployment than they would at their job’,” Kustoff said.

President Donald Trump’s most recent executive order aims to solve part of that issue, offering $400 a week in federal benefits rather than $600, and making the states pay for 25% of it.

While at one of the stops, WBBJ’s Julia Ewoldt asked Kustoff his thoughts on the order.

“Congress needs to be the one making the decisions on enhanced unemployment benefits and all these other issues that the President tried to address in his executive order,” Kustoff said.

“Do you think the President potentially overreached with this executive order?” Ewoldt asked.

“No, but I think what President Trump had to do with the executive order is make it very narrowly tailored so it doesn’t go into Congress’s purview,” Kustoff said. “Ultimately, when we talk about what money is spent, or how it should be spent, or how it’s directed, it’s really up to Congress. Congress controls the purse strings.”

Kustoff said the next day he is scheduled to vote is September 14.