President Trump
Donald Trump Trump Shortens Trip to Florida, Returns to Washington on Thursday Intel Deputy Chairman Says Cyber Attack of Government Agencies “ May Have Started Earlier. ”The attempt to ramp up the incentive checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000 appears dead in the water in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Trump is calling on Congress to increase the amount offered by a recently passed $ 2.3 trillion deal, an idea that quickly gained support from Democratic leaders, some House Republicans and a growing number of Senate Republicans.
But a bill to increase controls faces steep roadblocks – political, policy and procedural – that make it increasingly unlikely that lawmakers will get the legislation on Trump’s desk before Sunday afternoon, the deadline for the current Congress.
Leader of the majority of the Senate Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Key Test Vote On Trump’s Right Of Vote Set For Friday Jeff Stein: Battle For K Direct Payments That Put ‘Tremendous Pressure’ On Republican Caucus Dow Closes With End Of Year Meeting Record (R-Ky.) Pledged that the Senate would not pass a stand-alone bill on checks, killing the already dire chance that the bill passed by the House could pass through Congress without significant changes.
The Senate will not split up the three issues that President Trump has linked together just because Democrats are afraid to tackle two. The Senate will not be bullied into putting more borrowed money in the hands of wealthy friends of the Democrats who don’t need the help, ”McConnell said.
The GOP leader argued that the bill passed by the House is “inconsistent with what President Trump has proposed” and “does not have a realistic way of passing the Senate quickly.”
Her. Pat Toomey
Patrick (Pat) Joseph Toomey Government Used Patriot Act To Collect Logs From Website Visitors In 2019 Appeals Court Rules NSA’s Bulk Phone Data Collection Illegal Dunford Withdraws From Consideration To Lead Coronavirus Monitoring Panel MORE (R-Pa.) And McConnell on Wednesday blocked the House’s measure, the second day in a row, that it faced setbacks. McConnell blocked the same legislation twice on Tuesday, when the Democratic Senate leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerMcConnell Blocks Voting On K-Checks, Signals New Package New York Democratic Party Chairman Warns Ocasio-Cortez Against Challenging Schumer Sunday Show Preview: COVID-19 Relief Awaits Trump’s Signature; government continues to roll out MORE vaccines (NY) tried to make it and then Sen. Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders Former Sanders spokesperson outlines how House progressives can enforce a Medicare for All vote K stimulus checks bill blocked in Senate for second day Stimulus control, veto debates weigh on Senate layoffs in Georgia MORE (I-Vt.) Tried to set up a vote.
McConnell has offered a competitive measure that would link an increase in controls with removing a legal shield from technology companies and creating a committee to investigate the 2020 election. But that bill is seen as a non-starter for Democrats, underscoring that the GOP leader’s bill cannot pass the Senate either.
There is no other game in town besides the house bill. … The house has sunk for the year. Any amendment or addition, the House bill cannot become law until the end of this Congress, ”said Schumer.
If the Senate passes anything other than the exact language of the House bill, the measure should bounce back over the Capitol and pass a second time by the House, where lawmakers have already left town and are expected to beware will return Sunday. the inauguration of the 117th Congress.
The stalemate pretty much guarantees that in the absence of an eleventh-hour deal, the Senate is unlikely to pass a check proposal before noon on Sunday. If Congress doesn’t act sooner, they’ll have to start all over.
The Senate already needed a deal to get a check vote, as lawmakers are currently poised to debate a veto on an unrelated defense law until Saturday. Senators acknowledge that it is highly unlikely to get such an agreement.
Asked if a check bill wouldn’t go through Sunday’s deadline, Sen. John Cornyn
John Cornyn Senate poised to lift Trump’s veto Push for, 000 stimulus checks hits Senate buzzsaw Juan Williams: GOP’s problem with women of color MORE (R-Texas) said, “I think this is probably true under the circumstances.”
“They are not willing to take into account other pieces, other provisions in the bill … and they want to spend the money on people who frankly did not suffer financial losses during the pandemic,” he added.
When asked about possible political backlash against Republicans to prevent Americans from getting extra money, Cornyn added, “After we spent $ 4 trillion? No, not in a normal world. “
Her. John Thune
John Randolph ThuneHawley Contests Electoral College Results In Senate Senate Ready To Override Trump’s Defense Law Veto Trump Targets Congressional Republicans On Multiple Fronts MORE (RS.D.), McConnell’s No. 2, added that it was difficult to see how the Senate could complete work on a check proposal without a deal, which it acknowledged was unlikely.
The Dems are not giving up on us [Section] 230 and I think it is probably difficult on our end to get approval for the controls, ”he said.
The unraveling of the bipartisan push to increase the dollar amount for direct payments comes as the debate has deeply divided Republicans in the Senate, underscoring the difficulty that supporters face in getting a bill with Trump .
A handful of Senate Republicans have thrown their support behind the idea, including Sens. Kelly Loeffler
Kelly Loeffler Ossoff Shuts Down Loeffler’s Criticism of Warnock: She Campaigns With a Klansman Jeff Stein: Battle Over K Direct Payments Puts Huge Pressure on Republican Caucus Kemp Rejects Trump’s Call to Step Down as ‘a Distraction’ MORE (Ga.) And David Perdue
David Perdue Ossoff Shuts Down Loeffler’s Criticism of Warnock: She Is Campaigning With a Klansman Jeff Stein: Battle Over K Direct Payments Puts Huge Pressure on Republican Caucus Kemp Dismisses Trump’s Call to Step Down as ‘a Distraction’ (Ga.) Who are fighting for their political lives and the fate of the struggle for the Senate majority.
But several others are against increasing funding or are concerned about the structure of the bill passed by the house. Because the House invoice increased the amount of the checks while maintaining the same phase-out structure, households with a higher income could be eligible for payment.
“I think it’s a very inefficient way,” said Thune, saying he was against increasing the amount. “If we want to have a discussion about what else we can do, I think we can do that next year.”
Her. Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander A Vaccine, a Burrito, and More: 7 Lighter, Memorable Moments From 2020 On COVID-19 Foreign Policy Elites Are As Polarized As The Public The Hill’s Morning Report – Finally Congress Reaches COVID-19- relief match MORE (R-Tenn.) Argued that the recent bill passed by Congress was “targeted,” but “it’s not the $ 2,000 problem. It’s going to people who haven’t lost money in the process.”
Toomey, who has vowed to block any attempt to vote on a check bill, argued on Wednesday that it would be irresponsible for Congress to give more money, some of which would go to those who have not lost their jobs. during the coronavirus pandemic.
“How does that make sense at all?” he asked.
Her. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt Romney Bipartisan lawmakers are urging Trump to sign coronavirus bill or immediately veto Trump’s legacy: a lasting disregard for the truth? The Memo: Could Pence Run and Win in 2024? LAKE (R-Utah), the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, pointed out the cost of raising the checks.
“Someone has to pay for that,” Romney said. ‘We can’t just have free money. There must be tax. We have to pay interest on the debt. “
McConnell offered his competing proposal by claiming it is consistent with what Trump is looking for. In his signing statement On Sunday, Trump said the Senate would “start the process for a vote increasing checks to $ 2,000,” in addition to repealing Section 230 and starting “an investigation into voter fraud.”
But Republicans have not been sold by linking Section 230 to the fight against stimulus controls, especially after exiting the tech fight from the National Defense Authorization Act, despite Trump’s demands.
Her. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins Senate Ready to Lift Trump’s Right to Vote on Defense Push for, 000 Stimulation Checks Hits Senate Buzz On The Trail: The Political Winners of 2020 MORE (R-Maine) argued that the controls and section 230 were “two separate issues.”
Cornyn, who has a close relationship with McConnell, said the revocation of the liability shield used by tech companies was not “relevant” to the debate about increasing incentive checks.
“I think we should tackle 230, but I just don’t think this is the right way to do it,” Cornyn said. “I’m in favor of doing something, but not this week, not on this bill.”