President Donald Trump displays an executive order at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey. | Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Trump’s authority to circumvent Congress on issues like unemployment insurance is questionable.

President Donald Trump signed four executive orders meant to provide coronavirus relief on Saturday, including a measure to extend federal enhanced unemployment benefits and a moratorium on housing evictions.

Trump’s use of executive authority comes after Senate Republicans and House Democrats failed to settle on the contents of the US’s next coronavirus relief package in more than two weeks of contentious negotiations. In those negotiations, Democrats hoped to extend the $600 federal unemployment insurance benefit created by the CARES Act, to broaden the scope of eligibility for stimulus checks, and to expand federal aid to states and cities.

Republicans were divided in their goals, with Trump pushing for a payroll tax cut