“Expanded unemployment benefits were set to lapse for millions of struggling Americans on Saturday, a day after President Trump expressed more criticism of a $900 billion pandemic relief bill that was awaiting his signature and would extend them,” the New York Times reports.

CBS News: COVID relief bill flown to Florida, as Trump went golfing.

New York Times: “If Mr. Trump signs the bill on Saturday, states will still need time to reprogram their computer systems to account for the new law, according to Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project, but unemployed workers would still be able to claim the benefits.”

President Trump continued to push raising the amount of direct payments the massive Covid stimulus package should provide to Americans, but gave no indication on whether he would sign or veto the existing bill, NBC News reports.

Said Trump: “Made many calls and had meetings at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida. Why would politicians not want to give people $2000, rather than only $600? It wasn’t their fault, it was China. Give our people the money!”

“Millions of Americans who are hours away from losing unemployment aid or the small business they have spent years building have a simple plea to President Trump and Congress: Please help us,” the Washington Post reports.

The newspaper “has been inundated with messages and phone calls from people on the verge of losing their homes and cars and going hungry this holiday who are stunned that President Trump and Congress cannot agree on another emergency aid package. Several broke down crying in phone interviews.”

President Trump, in a stunning Tuesday night tweet, called the $900 billion Covid relief bill passed by Congress an unsuitable “disgrace” and urged lawmakers to make a number of changes to the measure, including bigger direct payments to individuals and families, CNBC reports.

“The president’s tweet, which included a video of him discussing what he considers the bill’s many flaws, came less than 24 hours after the Senate passed the measure.”

Washington Post: “Some aides were stunned that Trump weighed in the way he did after his economic team had publicly praised the bill. But administration officials had negotiated the bill with lawmakers in the final days without explicitly securing Trump’s approval.”

Axios: “The surprise announcement could delay desperately needed aid for millions of Americans if Trump decides not to sign the package as it stands. It also risks a government shutdown.”

Washington Post: “The notion that more aid is necessary — Biden at times has said talks should start as early as January — sets up perhaps the first major legislative test for the new president and his self-proclaimed negotiating skills.”

“Congress overwhelmingly approved $900 billion of relief for households and businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic, passing an emergency measure aimed at buoying the country through a difficult winter and into a new year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Associated Press: “The $900 billion pandemic relief package that was rushed through Congress Monday created a familiar year-end conundrum for lawmakers: It was a bill too big to fail, and also too big to read.”

Jonathan Bernstein: “I got one wrong. In the deal reached Sunday on the pandemic relief and stimulus bill, it appears that President Donald Trump successfully negotiated for one of his priorities: the return of the three-martini lunch.”

“Oddly enough, this comes at a time when, from all reports, Trump is paying no attention to his job, instead focusing only on efforts to undermine the rule of law by overturning an election that he lost. Presumably he told Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who negotiated the deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on behalf of the White House, that he didn’t much care what was in the bill as long as it included this provision.”

“As for the Democrats? This particular log-roll seems like a big win for them. The business deduction may be lousy policy and a subsidy for the rich, but it’s relatively harmless overall — and liberal policy experts are thrilled with what they got in return. So it’s a win for Trump, a win for Democrats and a loss for congressional Republicans. If there’s been a deal with any similar configuration over the past four years, I can’t think of it.”

“For much of the economy — especially people and industries that have been insulated from the worst effects of the pandemic — it may provide a bridge to a vaccine-fueled rebound. That is especially likely if the vaccine is quickly and widely distributed, and the swelling number of coronavirus cases doesn’t force another round of widespread shutdowns,” the New York Times reports.

“The injection of money comes months too late for tens of thousands of failed businesses, however, and it may not be enough to sustain unemployed workers until the labor market rebounds. Moreover, it could be the last help from Washington the economy gets anytime soon.”

“Congressional leaders on Saturday morning were still scrambling to clinch a coronavirus relief deal, just two days before lawmakers face the threat of yet another shutdown,” Politico reports.

“Both chambers now plan to hold a rare weekend session days before Christmas, with negotiators in both parties saying they aim to reach a final agreement within hours.”

Playbook: “Has a president ever been so absent during a crisis? Congress has been struggling with a Covid-relief deal, and the man who got to the White House on his deal bonafides has been completely silent, uninvolved and seemingly uninterested.”

NBC News: “Negotiators already dropped two contentious provisions that were holding up an agreement — liability protections for employers and funding for state and local governments.”

“But leaders had hit a new roadblock as Democrats on Friday accused Republicans, led by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., of seeking to hamstring the incoming Biden administration by cutting off Federal Reserve emergency lending facilities created by the CARES Act to protect the fragile economy.”

“Democrats want to extend that authority into the new year, describing it as an important tool to respond to an economic crisis.”

Every U.S. state saw personal income drop in the third quarter as stimulus wound down, according to Commerce Department data.