US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said they were open to restarting COVID-19 aid talks, after weeks of failed negotiations prompted US President Donald Trump to take executive actions that Democrats argued would do little to ease Americans' financial distress.

Discussions over a fifth bill to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic fell apart on Friday, a week after the expiration of a critical boost in unemployment assistance and eviction protections, exposing people to a wave of economic pain as infections continue to rise across the country.

Trump on Saturday sought to take matters into his own hands, signing executive orders and memorandums aimed at unemployment benefits, evictions, and student loans.

Trump told reporters in New Jersey before returning to Washington on Sunday that his suspension of the collection of the payroll tax could be made permanent. He said doing so would have no impact on Social Security because reimbursement would be made through the general fund.

Trump, noting that Democrats want to resume stimulus discussions, said the White House would be willing to talk to them again "if it's not a waste of time."

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, called Trump's orders a "series of half-baked measures" and accused him of putting Social Security, the government pension plan for the elderly, "at grave risk" by delaying the collection of payroll taxes that pay for the program.

"This will have zero impact on Social Security," Trump said.

"It may be permanent, we're looking into it," he added. "We'll take it out till the end of the year and then I'm going to make a decision as to, number one, an extension, and number two, make it permanent and no reimbursement."

Trump's move came as the number of US' COVID-19 cases rose past 5 million. More than 160,000 Americans have died. Trump's orders also raised questions about the legality of bypassing Congress' constitutional powers to tax and spend.

On Sunday, both Pelosi and Mnuchin appeared willing to consider a narrower deal that would extend some aid until the end of 2020, and then revisit the need for more federal assistance in January. That would come after November's election, which could rebalance power in Washington.

Reuters