The Democratic-led House on Monday approved only $ 2,000 direct payments for tens of millions of Americans, forcing Republican lawmakers to keep track of whether they support or oppose President Donald Trump’s support for greater stimulus controls.
However, the fate of the provision in the upper chamber remains a question mark. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Has not given the assurance that he will consider the additional relief, despite the president’s position.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) will enforce a vote on the legislation on Tuesday, a move that could block any GOP senator.
The 275-134 vote, which amassed the required two-thirds majority with just three votes, came a day after Trump signed a $ 900 billion stimulus package after days of delay, which nearly led to a government strike. as a result of the $ 1.4 trillion in federal spending linked to the measure.
Although most Republicans in the House were opposed to raising the $ 600 checks included in the relief bill to $ 2,000, 44 GOP lawmakers eventually supported the provision. House Republicans last week blocked the same stimulus measure to succeed with unanimous consent, prompting House President Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to cast a vote.
“Every Republican who votes against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship facing families and to deny the American people the relief they need,” Pelosi said in a statement issued Sunday night. issued after Trump signed the stimulus.
Photo by Cheriss May / Getty
Trump’s days-long refusal to sign the legislation, while thriving to deny the bipartisan package, came as he spent his Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida and his nearby golf club.
His temporary opposition seemed to have accomplished nothing.
Democrats were already on board after demanding $ 1,200 in payments during the negotiations, but cut in half at the request of Republicans and Trump. And at home, the commander-in-chief plunged the country’s capital into panic, while lawmakers debated how to prevent a government strike, and millions of Americans across the country saw their unemployment benefits lapse.
Last week, after Congress overwhelmingly approved the stimulus budget package, Trump suddenly demanded that $ 2,000 checks be added and that hundreds of millions of dollars be stripped of foreign aid. This despite the fact that his government officials were involved in the month-long stimulus talks and his own budget proposal in the White House, including foreign money.
If the president had not signed the bill by midnight on Monday, a strike by the government would have followed. And because of the delay, millions of people will see their federal unemployment benefits reduced in the 11- to 10-week package as aid expires Saturday.
The swamp Trump caused has temporarily pushed the recipients of the legal aid bill into a state of uncertainty while Republicans on Capitol Hill are grappling with how to deal with their party leader. McConnell did not promise a vote on the $ 2000 payments, much less the support needed from his GOP members to pass the ruling. Congress Republicans and their assistants hoped Trump would drop his demands and just approve the bill.
In a statement Sunday night, McConnell praised Trump for signing the pandemic aid, but made no mention of the upper chamber’s plans.
“[Trump’s] “leadership prevented a government strike at a time when our country could not afford one,” the Republican of Kentucky said.