On Thursday, House Democrats who are also betting on $ 2,000 checks will dare all Republicans to break with Trump, calling for his Christmas Eve voting proposal. The president’s last-minute objection could derail critical legislation amid a raging pandemic and deep economic uncertainty. His attacks risk closing the federal government early next week.
SEE: In a Twitter video, Trump suggests he will not sign the COVID relief bill
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote Wednesday in a letter to her colleagues.
“The whole country knows that it is urgent for the president to sign this bill, both to provide coronavirus relief and to keep the government open.”
Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have resisted the $ 2,000 checks for being too expensive. House Republicans are expected to block the vote, but Democrats may try again on Monday.
The president’s last-minute objections are setting a definite showdown with his own Republican party in his last days in office.
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Instead of winning the broad package of aid, among the most important in history, Trump is attacking Republican Party leaders for the presidential election, for recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect and rejecting his campaign to contest the results of the Electoral College when they are participated in the Congress on 6 January.
The president’s push to increase direct payments for most Americans from $ 600 to $ 2,000 for individuals and $ 4,000 for couples divides the party with a politically painful test of loyalty, including that of U.S. senators. Republican Party David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are fighting to keep their seats on Jan. 5. special elections in Georgia.
Republican lawmakers have traditionally dismissed big spending and many never fully accepted Trump’s populist approach. Their political DNA tells them to oppose a more expensive relief package. But now they are being asked to run for president.
Republican Party leaders were largely silent on Wednesday, with neither McConnell nor Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House’s minority leader, speaking publicly.
At a conference call, House Republican lawmakers complained that Trump threw them under the bus, according to a Republican in the private call, and granted anonymity to discuss it. The majority had voted for the package and urged leaders to participate in cable news programs to explain its benefits, the person said.
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McCarthy later sent a letter to colleagues suggesting Republicans would offer their own proposal, picking up on Trump’s complaints about foreign aid to “reexamine how our tax dollars are spent abroad.”
Democrats took advantage of Republican disorder to press for a priority. Jon Ossoff, Perdue’s Democratic opponent, tweeted simply Tuesday night, “now $ 2,000 checks.”
When Congress left town for the holidays, the year-end package was part of a tough commitment, a massive more than 5,000-page bill that includes COVID aid and $ 1.4 trillion for fund government agencies until September and address other priorities.
The relief bill Trump criticizes would set an additional temporary $ 300-a-week unemployment benefit, along with a new round of subsidies for affected businesses, restaurants and theaters and money for schools, health care providers and tenants facing eviction.
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Although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin represented the White House in the negotiations, Trump attacked the bipartisan effort in a video he posted in a tweet Tuesday night, suggesting he might not sign the legislation.
Trump, considering the diversity of the provisions of the government’s broader funding package, including the basic pillars of foreign aid, included each year, Trump called the bill “unfortunate.”
Trump did not specifically promise to use his veto power, and there may be enough support in Congress to overturn it if he does. But the consequences would be serious if Trump revalued the legislation. It would mean no federal aid for Americans and troubled small businesses, and there would be no additional resources to help distribute the vaccines. To top it off, because lawmakers linked the pandemic relief bill to a global funding measure, the government would close on December 29th.
The final text of the more than 5,000-page bill was still being prepared by Congress and was not expected to be sent to the White House for Trump’s signature before Thursday or Friday, an aide said.
This complicates the schedule ahead. If Trump vetoes the package or allows it to expire with a “pocket veto” by the end of the year, Americans will run out of massive amounts of COVID aid.
A resolution could be forced on Monday. It was then that Congress passed an uninterrupted funding bill to keep the government funded while the proceedings were being compiled, and there is a risk of a federal closure.
Democrats are considering another uninterrupted move to at least keep the government running until Biden takes office on Jan. 20, according to two aides granted anonymity to discuss private talks.
The House was already scheduled to return Monday and the Senate on Tuesday for a vote that will overturn Trump’s veto on the mandatory defense bill. Democrats may try again at the time to approve Trump’s proposal for $ 2,000 checks, as well as the government’s temporary funding measure to prevent a shutdown, aides said.
The push for higher payments to Americans sparked a rare common cause between Trump and some of the more liberal members of Congress. Pelosi and Democrats said they struggled to get the highest subsidies during protracted negotiations only to settle in the lower numbers when Republicans refused.
Pelosi will have to offer the president’s proposal on Thursday according to a procedure that allows a single parliamentarian to oppose his consideration. It will go ahead during the so-called pro forma session, and few lawmakers are expected to attend. McCarthy and Republicans are about to object.
Republicans have been reluctant to spend more on pandemic relief and only agreed on the big year-end package as the time for a final deal dwindled. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, said “Trump needs to sign the bill to help the people and keep the government open” and that Congress would step up to get more help later.
The Senate approved the huge relief package by a 92-6 vote after the House approved it by 359-53. These vote totals would be enough to overturn a veto should Trump decide to take that step.
Biden applauded lawmakers for their work. He described the package as far from perfect, “but it provides vital relief at a critical time.”
He also said more relief would be needed in the coming months.
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