Coronavirus Live Updates: Trump’s Unilateral Moves on Economic Aid Draw Fire

New Zealand marked 100 days with no new reported cases of local coronavirus transmission. France will require people to wear masks in crowded outdoor areas.

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Top White House advisers on the Sunday talk shows defended President Trump’s efforts to circumvent Congress for new coronavirus aid. Democrats said Mr. Trump had overreached his authority.

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Trump’s moves on economic aid draw fire on the Sunday news shows.

Administration officials struggled in television appearances on Sunday to explain President Trump’s attempts to circumvent Congress in the absence of an agreement on a coronavirus aid package, sowing further confusion over whether tens of millions of Americans will receive the promised relief.

The president announced executive steps on Saturday that he said were intended to address lapsed unemployment benefits, reinstate an eviction ban, provide relief for student borrowers and suspend collection of payroll taxes. They came after crucial benefits provided under earlier aid bills had lapsed, and after two weeks of talks between congressional Democrats and administration officials failed to yield an agreement on a broader relief package.

But Mr. Trump’s steps appeared unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the sputtering economy, raising questions about whether Mr. Trump had taken them mainly to gain more leverage in his face-off with Congress.

Democrats criticized the actions on Sunday as executive overreach and warned that the nation’s social safety net could be jeopardized.

“The president’s meager, weak, and unconstitutional actions further demand that we have an agreement,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on “Fox News Sunday.”

She, along with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, urged administration officials to resume talks and seek a compromise on a broad relief package.

“The president’s executive orders, described in one word, could be paltry; in three words, unworkable, weak, and far too narrow.” Mr. Schumer said on the ABC program “This Week.”

Mr. Trump’s top economic advisers were on the defensive Sunday about whether the president had the authority to bypass Congress, which retains the constitutional power of the purse, and redirect billions of dollars in spending. But there was some acknowledgment that the measures were not as potent as congressional action would be.

“The downside of executive orders is, you can’t address some of the small business incidents that are there,” said Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, in a prerecorded interview that was broadcast Sunday on Gray Television. “You can’t necessarily get direct payments, because it has to do with appropriations. That’s something that the president doesn’t have the ability to do. So, you miss on those two key areas. You miss on money for schools. You miss on any funding for state and local revenue needs that may be out there.”