US President Donald Trump signs spending package bill

US President Donald Trump has signed into law a Coronavirus relief and spending package bill, averting a partial government shutdown.

President Trump had initially refused to sign the bill, saying he wanted to give people bigger one-off payments.

The delay meant that millions of Americans temporarily lost unemployment benefits.

In a statement, Mr Trump said, he was signing the bill to restore unemployment benefits, return airline workers back to work and add substantially more money for vaccine distribution.

The relief package worth 900 billion dollar was approved by Congress after



months of negotiation. It is part of a 2.3 trillion dollar spending package that includes 1.4 trillion dollar for normal federal government spending.

If President Trump had not signed the bill into law by midnight tonight, a partial government shutdown would have begun unless legislators passed a stopgap bill.

About 14 million Americans faced a lapse in unemployment benefit payments and new stimulus cheques. Unemployment benefits will now be restored.

US President-elect Joe Biden had warned of devastating consequences if Mr Trump continued to delay signing.