President of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., September 28, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The House will vote Monday to increase the second round of federal direct payments to $ 2,000 as Democrats embrace President Donald Trump’s call for more money into Americans’ pockets.
The move would increase the year-end stimulus checks in the coronavirus package and the government funding package from $ 600 to $ 2,000. The vote comes a day after Trump enacted more than $ 2 trillion in pandemic aid and financial statements for government spending.
Last week, the president called the legislation “shameful”. He waited days to sign the package after receiving it from Congress. Trump claimed he was against the bill – which helped his Treasury Secretary negotiate and incorporated many of his White House’s budgetary priorities – because it included too little direct money for Americans and too much foreign aid.
Trump has been pushing for $ 2,000 payments in recent days. In a statement explaining his decision to sign the legislation on Sunday, he noted that the House and possibly the Senate could decide to approve larger cash deposits. However, most Republicans in the GOP-held Senate even resisted a check for $ 1,200.
Trump’s gambit ends a chaotic eight months of effort in Washington to send another round of coronavirus aid. Americans waited months for more help after the financial lifelines that helped them during the first months of the pandemic expired in the summer. Trump’s delays in signing the year-end bill cost an estimated 14 million unemployed Americans a week in unemployment benefits after two major aid programs ended briefly.
The president’s signature prevented a government shutdown that would have begun Tuesday. More delays would also have jeopardized a federal moratorium on deportation, which will be extended for another month through Jan. 31.
Democrats have called the emergency aid a down payment and plan to push for more aid after President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Calling for greater direct payments during the aid talks, they jumped on the president’s support for $ 2,000 deposits.
In a statement Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Called on Trump to put more pressure on his party to support the payments during Monday’s vote.
“Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship families are facing and to deny the American people the help they need,” she said.
In his own statement Sunday, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said he is “happy that the American people will receive this much-needed help as our nation continues to fight this pandemic.” However, he did not mention plans to file the $ 2,000 payment bill if Parliament approves it.
Senate leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said on Sunday that he would try to pass the legislation in the Senate.
No Democrats will object. Will Senate Republicans? ‘ he tweeted.
House Democrats tried to pass through $ 2,000 payments by unanimous agreement in a pro-forma session on Thursday. However, the vote failed because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Didn’t approve.
The chamber will vote in full on Monday. It needs two-thirds of support to go through a procedure that will allow Parliament to vote more quickly on legislation.
Earlier this month, Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Twice rejected attempts to pass unanimously $ 1,200 direct payments into the Senate. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Insisted on the checks as part of the aid package.
Schumer’s step to put pressure on Senate Republicans comes as two GOP-incumbent actors – Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler – compete in Georgia on Jan. 5 to determine control of the Senate and determine the success of Biden’s agenda. Democrats have made emergency relief a major problem in the races.
The $ 900 billion pandemic relief portion of the legislation includes $ 600 payments, along with federal unemployment insurance coverage of $ 300 a week through mid-March. It expands programs that enable freelancers, giants, and the self-employed to receive benefits and increase the number of weeks people can receive insurance.
The bill is putting more than $ 300 billion more into supporting small businesses, mostly in the form of forgiven loans from the Paycheck Protection Program. It creates a $ 25 billion rental fund.
It includes more than $ 8 billion for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and $ 20 billion to make free injections for Americans. It’s also putting $ 82 billion into education as schools struggle to reopen, and $ 45 billion into transportation, including airline payroll.
The aid package does not go into aid from the state and local government, which the Democrats and many Republicans support as a measure to avoid layoffs. However, GOP leaders have opposed approving the aid without also creating a shield for companies from coronavirus-related lawsuits.
Democrats plan to push for state aid and local support and a new round of direct payments, among other support measures, after Biden takes office.
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