Democrats have seized Trump’s surprising objections to the bill in an effort to get Republicans to accept a higher amount for the stimulus controls – and Republican lawmakers are now in a tough place where they will be forced to decide whether to do it already. then will not defy. President.
Democrats vowed their efforts are not over, pledging to pass a bill to raise stimulus vouchers to $ 2,000 with a full up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives Dec. 28.
Monday, I will return Parliament to the session where we will have a registered vote on our standalone law to increase payments for the economic impact to $ 2,000. Voting against this law is denying and denying the financial difficulties facing families. it denies them the relief they need, ”Pelosi said in a statement.
“Hopefully by then the president will have already signed the bipartisan and bicameral legislation to keep the government open and provide assistance with the coronavirus,” she said.
Passing the bailout package through both chambers was a huge undertaking and marked a breakthrough on two sides after months of partisan stalemate and contentious disagreement.
One of the main bottlenecks to overcome was a disagreement over how much the package should cost, with many Republicans warning they couldn’t accept too high a price tag.
After a deal was finally struck, the president was expected to back the package and the White House had indicated that Trump would sign the legislation once it reached his desk.
But on Tuesday, Trump questioned all that when he indicated that he would not sign the bill if Congress didn’t change the legislation and increase the “ridiculously low” stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000 for individuals or $ 4,000 a couple.
Pelosi called on Trump to get Republicans to accept the higher amount.
“If the president is serious about the $ 2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction,” Pelosi said.
Republicans today oppose the Democratic effort with a proposal to scrap part of the spending package that included foreign aid – an area Trump attacked after Congress passed the law. However, those provisions were largely in line with Trump’s own budget request and supported by the vast majority of Republicans. That attempt was rejected by the Democrats.
At a press conference following the House’s suspension until December 28, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin are still engaged in ongoing discussions on the Covid aid package – despite Mnuchin helping negotiate the deal which is Trump, surprisingly, and was publicly questioned earlier this week.
Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the GOP leadership, says the Republicans don’t really know what Trump will do next, but they are hopeful that he won’t veto the stimulus funding.
“I have no idea what he’s up to,” said Blunt.
“We were assured that the president would sign the bill,” he told reporters after a brief pro forma session. “I have no reason to believe Secretary Mnuchin did not believe that.” Mnuchin served as the chief negotiator on behalf of the administration.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNNs Jazmin Goodwin contributed to this report.