Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday slammed Parliament’s bill to increase stimulus payments to $ 2,000, which President Trump pushed alongside Democratic leaders, saying it was not targeted enough.
McConnell argued that giving $ 2,000 checks to high-income households that did not face job losses was “socialism for rich people” … “a terrible way to help struggling American families.” .
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer called on the Senate to pass the bill passed by the House to increase stimulus controls to $ 2,000, but McConnell opposed.
“I will again ask for the consent of the Senate to set a time for the vote on the House bill to give $ 2,000 checks to the American people,” Schumer said.
Schumer argued that the Senate should pass the House bill to increase incentive checks to $ 2,000, saying, “There is only one way and one way to pass $ 2,000 checks before the end of the year, and that is to pass the House bill … Either the Senate supports and adopts the House bill or the struggling Americans will not receive $ 2,000 checks during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. “
“The Republican leader has come up with an excuse to prevent a clean vote, up or down, yes or no, on the $ 2,000 checks coming on the floor,” he said, adding that McConnell’s maneuver to combine direct payments with other unrelated issues “is intended to kill the possibility that $ 2,000 checks will ever become law.”
McConnell on Tuesday introduced legislation that combined three Trump priorities – expanding stimulus controls, a complete repeal of online liability protection, and an investigation into alleged election fraud – each a prerequisite for Trump to sign the Covid aid and spending package. earlier this week. Trump himself never specified that these three articles should be linked.
But on Wednesday, McConnell said the House bill has “no realistic way to get through the Senate quickly,” and said the Democratic-led effort deviated from what Trump actually called for.
Where are things: No vote is scheduled on McConnell’s bill or legislation passed by the House, and GOP aides say the 116th Congress is likely to end without any action to increase direct payments.