WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans on Thursday shot a Democratic bid to grant President Donald Trump’s long-running demand for direct payments of $ 2,000 to most Americans at the end of the session, wondering if he would have a long-awaited COVID-19 emergency law must sign.
The ‘made-for-TV’ clash came when the Democratically-controlled chamber gathered for a pro forma session scheduled in anticipation of Trump’s signing of the massive year-end legislative package, which would incur a $ 1 government spending. . 4 trillion collapses with the hard-fight COVID-19 package and dozens of unrelated but bipartisan bills.
Instead, Thursday’s 12-minute House session turned into an inconclusive theater in response to Trump’s right to veto the package, negotiated on Trump’s behalf by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, sought the unanimous approval of all House members to pass the larger checks, but GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who was not present in the nearly empty room, declined approval.
If Trump went ahead with his implicit veto threat delivered via video clip on Tuesday, the government would likely see a brief, partial government shutdown starting Dec. 29. It would also provide the $ 600 direct payments that the bill contains and other help for the unemployed and those who are deported.
The push for bigger payments has created a rare common cause between Trump and some of the most liberal members of Congress. House Speaker Pelosi, D-Calif., Said they fought for the higher allowances during protracted negotiations, only to settle for the lower number when Republicans declined. Democrats plan to hold a roll-call vote on the $ 2,000 check proposal on Monday when members of the House return to Washington.
Senate Republicans, led by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, oppose larger checks of $ 2,000 as overpriced and ill-targeted.
The way forward, including attempts to avoid a shutdown or perhaps even pass a last-ditch extension of soon-expiring jobless checks, remained unclear. Any shutdown would likely be short-lived, but nothing is certain.
“We are not letting the government shut down, nor are we letting the American people down,” Hoyer said. “There are ongoing discussions between the speaker and the secretary of the treasury and the administration.”
The view seems dire for Republicans, who praised the hard-won COVID-19 aid package, passed by wide votes on Monday after the White House assured GOP leaders that Trump backed the bill. It has also caused more Trump-related headaches for Georgia GOP Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are fighting for their political lives – and for continued GOP control of the Senate – in a pair of Jan. 5 elections in Georgia.
“The best way out is for the president to sign the bill,” Republican Senator Roy Blunt said on Thursday. “And I still hope he decides that.”
But instead of taking the win of the all-encompassing aid package, one of the largest in history, Trump is lashing out at GOP leaders over the presidential election – for recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect and rejecting his campaign to The results of the Electoral College will be disputed when they are counted in Congress on January 6.
“It’s Christmas Eve, but it’s not a quiet night. Everything is not calm. For too many people nothing is clear. And for far too many people, they don’t sleep peacefully, ”said Representative Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. “I did a town hall last night where people were crying, people terrified of what’s going to happen.”
The president’s push to increase direct payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 for individuals and $ 4,000 for couples for most Americans divides the party with a politically painful loyalty test.
Republican lawmakers traditionally deny major spending, and many have never fully embraced Trump’s populist approach. Their political DNA says they should oppose a more expensive aid package. But now they are asked to stand next to the president.
During a Wednesday House teleconference, Republican lawmakers complained that Trump threw them under the bus, according to one Republican during the private conversation, and granted anonymity to discuss it. Most had voted in favor of the package, and they urged leaders to go to the cable news shows to explain its benefits, the person said.
Democrats took advantage of the Republican disarray to press for a priority. Jon Ossoff, Perdue’s Democratic opponent, simply tweeted Tuesday night, “$ 2,000 checks now.”
The bill criticizing Trump would bring in a temporary supplemental allowance of $ 300 a week, along with a new round of grants for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters, and money for schools, caregivers and tenants who are evicted.
Although Mnuchin represented the White House during the negotiations, Trump attacked the bipartisan effort in a video he tweeted on Tuesday evening, suggesting he may not sign the legislation.
Trump opposed a series of provisions in the broader government funding package, including the foreign aid pillars that are included each year, calling the bill a “ disgrace. ”
Trump has not vowed specifically to use his veto, and if he does, there may be enough support in Congress to push him aside. But the consequences would be dire if Trump turned the legislation upside down. It wouldn’t mean federal help for struggling Americans and small businesses, and no additional resources to assist with vaccine distribution. To top it all off, as lawmakers linked the pandemic bill with an overarching funding measure, the government was set to shut down on Dec. 29.
The final text of the more than 5,000-page bill was still in preparation by Congress and was not expected to be sent to the White House for Trump’s signature by Thursday or Friday, an assistant said.
That complicates the upcoming schedule. If Trump vetoes the package, or lets it lapse with a ‘pocket veto’ at the end of the year, Americans will do without massive amounts of COVID assistance.
A resolution can be enforced on Monday. That’s when an emergency funding bill that Congress passed to keep the government funded while the paperwork was being drafted expires, threatening federal shutdown.
The House is already set to return Monday, and the Senate Tuesday, for a vote to override Trump’s veto on defense law. Democrats announced they will enforce a roll call vote to accept Trump’s proposal for $ 2,000 checks, as well as a temporary government funding measure to avoid a shutdown, Hoyer said Thursday.
The Senate approved the massive aid package by 92-6 votes after the House approved it against 359-53. Those vote totals would be enough to override a veto if Trump decided to take that step.
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