US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to reporters about the results of the 2020 US presidential election and the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) at a press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, Nov. 12 2020.
Hannah McKay | Reuters
House Democrats will attempt to pass on $ 2,000 direct payments on Thursday as the fate of a coronavirus aid package passed by Congress is at stake.
The party will send money to the Americans after President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to oppose a pandemic aid of more than $ 2 trillion and a federal funding bill, as it sends $ 600 instead of $ 2,000 deposits. The proposal – which Congress approved Monday after Trump played no part in the talks in which lawmakers drafted it – included $ 900 billion in coronavirus lighting.
The bill included $ 600 direct payments, rather than the $ 1,200 amount passed in March as part of the CARES Act, as most of Trump’s Republican Party wanted to limit the plan’s total cost. In his criticism of year-end laws, Trump also pointed to spending on foreign aid – which Washington includes in its funding bills every year.
The House will try to pass on the $ 2,000 payments in a pro forma session, a short room meeting that usually only features a few members. Democrats are aiming to pass the measure unanimously, meaning any legislator can block it.
Democrats have called on Trump to sign the Coronavirus Control and Government Funding Act as well as to support the separate cash payment plan.
If the president really wants to join us with $ 2,000 payments, he has to appeal [House Minority] Leader [Kevin] McCarthy to agree to our request for unanimous consent, ”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Wrote to Democrats on Wednesday.
Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the top two Republicans in Congress, and their aides have been silent on Trump’s demand for bigger checks.
But McCarthy late Wednesday described in a letter to his fellow Republicans a counter-action his party planned to take on Thursday to make changes to the foreign aid component of the spending bill.
Either side could eventually stall the other’s proposal in a deadlock that would leave the bill with $ 600 direct payments passed unchanged Monday.
It’s unclear who would be eligible for $ 2,000 payments in the Democrats’ plan. In the Aid and Government Funding Act, individuals making up to $ 75,000 and couples filing jointly making up to $ 150,000 would receive the full $ 600.
If Trump vetoes the legislation, Congress may have enough backing to override his action. Depending on how quickly the over 5,000-page bill lands on his desk after formal enrollment, he could potentially let him die by refusing to sign it before the new session of Congress begins at noon on January 3.
Along with direct payments, the bailout package adds a federal unemployment benefit of $ 300 per week, expands unemployment benefit extension provisions and a federal moratorium on eviction, directs $ 284 billion in loans for the Paycheck Protection Program, and puts more over $ 8 billion in distribution of Covid-19 vaccines among other provisions. If Trump doesn’t sign the legislation in the next few days, about 12 million people would lose unemployment benefits on Saturday and the government would close on Tuesday.
Many economists and Democrats call the $ 900 billion contingency plan after months of inactivity on Capitol Hill inadequate. Democrats have said they plan to introduce another emergency relief bill after President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
They have cited more direct payments and aid from the state and local government as their top priorities.
—Reuters contributed to this report.
This is a story in progress. Check back regularly for updates.
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