Senator Pat Toomey objected this week to pressure to pass legislation that increases the value of stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000.
Toomey (R-Pa.), Widely known as a budget and deficit hawk, has repeatedly slammed the efforts of President Trump, Democrats and some Republicans to increase direct payments.
‘To blindly lend or print another two-thirds of a trillion dollars so that we can send $ 2,000 to children, the deceased and ten million workers who have not missed a salary, such as federal and civil servants, is also not a sound economic policies. is it something I am willing to support, ”Toomey, who is retiring after his term expires in 2022, said in a statement.
The Pennsylvania senator has vowed not to “agree to a vote on it”, also denied in a Tuesday tweet that any unfair relief is allowed.
“Congress must continue to help workers who have lost their jobs,” he argued, calling the loan needed to pay for such an effort a terrible policy. ‘
Toomey was under pressure over his opposition to the increased checks on CNN and stood by his position, explaining that he was opposed to going checks to individuals who had not experienced any loss of income due to this crisis.
“It makes no sense. “We are in a very different place today than we were in March,” he said.
Last Tuesday, the Commander-in-Chief described the dual coronavirus relief bill as a ‘disgrace’ and called on Congress to amend it.
The legislation, which was linked to a $ 1.4 billion government funding bill, passed the House and Senate with veto-stable majorities, but Trump argued the package needed work.
Trump’s biggest complaint with the deal was the size of direct payments, and he called on Congress last week to amend the bill and increase each check to $ 2,000, as well as eliminate billions of dollars in foreign aid.
He announced that he had signed the measure on Sunday, but warned that he would have to remove millions of dollars in spending from the account.
Since then, Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) And David Perdue (R-Ga.) Came. in support of the $ 2,000 checks.