- Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell on Tuesday introduced a bill linking $ 2,000 stimulus checks to the repeal of Article 230 and a new commission to study election fraud, which is likely to condemn the increased checks.
- McConnell’s proposal comes just hours after he blocked a bill passed by the House that would also increase Americans’ stimulus payments, but without tackling the other items – both of which are Trump’s top priorities.
- Trump and some Republicans have repeatedly campaigned against Article 230 – which protects Internet companies from the charge of user-posted content – and made unfounded allegations of electoral fraud, while Democrats opposed both issues.
- McConnell’s decision to commit increased stimulus controls to an Article 230 Commission on Repeal and Election Fraud could abandon the effort by pushing Democrats to vote against the bill or help Trump achieve three victories.
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Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday introduced a bill linking $ 2,000 stimulus checks to unrelated items on President Donald Trump’s agenda: a complete repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the creation of a new Congressional Committee on the integrity of the 2020 US elections.
By linking the increased payments to measures the Democrats oppose, so-called poison pills, McConnell’s bill is likely to weaken efforts to get Americans additional COVID-19 relief.
McConnell’s move comes just hours after he blocked a separate attempt by Democrats to hold a vote on $ 2,000 checks that did not contain the language on the other two issues.
“Senator McConnell knows how to make $ 2000 survival checks and he knows how to kill them,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a press release.
“If Sen. McConnell tries to load the dual CASH LAW through the House with unrelated, biased provisions that will do absolutely nothing to help struggling families across the country, it will not succeed through the House and can not pass law. “No step like this by Sen. McConnell would be a blatant attempt to deprive Americans of a $ 2000 survival check,” Schumer added.
Earlier Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for an immediate vote in the upper house on legislation known as the CASH Act, which was passed by the House on Monday night with the support of 44 Republicans and all but two Democrats.
McConnell has repeatedly opposed additional direct COVID-19 relief payments to Americans, calling them ‘crazy policies’ in the past. But he also recently came under pressure from Democrats, Trump and even some Republicans – ahead of the crucial Senate elections for Georgia – to increase the amount to $ 2,000 from the $ 600 that Congress and Trump signed earlier this week .
Read more: $ 600 checks for most people, assistance for entertainment venues, airlines and public transportation. Here’s something else in the $ 900 billion stimulus that Trump has just signed.
Trump threatened to veto the stimulus bill because the checks did not amount to $ 2,000, but in the end he sang the $ 900 billion emergency relief package.
On Tuesday, following McConnell’s decision to block the House proposal that would do exactly that, Trump tipped over again, while also pushing Republicans to link the increased payments to his crusades against the technology industry and the presidential election results.
“Unless Republicans have a death wish, and this is the right thing to do, they must approve the $ 2000 payment as soon as possible. $ 600 IS NOT ENOUGH! do not steal land, and do not allow Democrats to steal the presidential election. tweeted.
By linking the $ 2,000 check to Trump’s other demands – which both Democrats opposed – McConnell’s bill is likely to put Democrats under pressure to vote for the measure, which in turn could provide political coverage for Republicans. to say that they are not responsible for providing the increased payments to Americans.
Trump has repeatedly sworn in against Article 230, a legal provision that protects Internet companies from lawsuits over content posted by users on their sites and gives them the ability to regulate the content. Trump and some Republicans have misinterpreted the law as the requirement for social media companies to be politically neutral, and have long complained – despite evidence to the contrary – that social media is biased against conservative views.
Trump has also repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims about the widespread voter fraud in the US election in 2020 – and his lawyers have won zero out of the at least 40 lawsuits that make such claims. (President-elect Joe Biden earned 306 votes for the Electoral College earlier this month, more than the 270 needed to win the presidential election, and won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes).