After throwing a grenade that threatens to blow up a big relief from COVID and a government funding law and force a government shutdown amid a pandemic, President Donald Trump spent Christmas night playing golf in Florida
PALM BEACH – After throwing a grenade that threatens to blow up a major relief from COVID and a government funding law and force a government shutdown amid a pandemic, President Donald Trump spent Christmas night playing at golf in florida.
Failure to agree on the bill could deny checks to millions of Americans on the sidelines.
Trump had no events in his public schedule on the first day of winter vacation Thursday, but he traveled to his Palm Beach Golf Club, where CNN cameras saw him on the links. Journalists were not given any details of their schedule for the day, but said, “As the holiday season approaches, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American people. His schedule includes many meetings and calls.
Trump’s departure came as Washington was still awaiting his surprise, the 11-hour demand that a year-end spending bill that congressional leaders spent months negotiating would give most US $ 2,000 control of COVID, far more than the 600 members of his own party. he accepted. The idea was quickly rejected by House Republicans during a rare Christmas Eve session, which left the proposal on edge.
The bipartisan compromise had been considered a deal made and had garnered widespread approval in the House and Senate this week after the White House assured Republican leaders that Trump supported it. If Trump refuses to sign the deal, which is in addition to a $ 1.4 trillion government funding bill, he will be forced to stop the federal government, as well as delay aid checks and stop unemployment benefits and protections against evictions in the midst of the worst part of the pandemic.
It was a middle finger raised to Republicans by a president who has been infuriated by the November 3 loss to President-elect Joe Biden and has tried to introduce increasingly outrageous new schemes to try to overturn the results of democratic elections. He has been incited by allies such as his lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who accompanied the president to Florida aboard Air Force One.
Trump’s anger has focused, in part, on Republicans in Congress who, he says, have been insufficiently supportive of his mission to delegitimize Biden’s victory by pressing unfounded claims of massive election fraud before Congress meets for count the votes of the Electoral College on January 6th.
In Florida, Trump continued to denounce the results, complaining about members who had stolen his election and expressing frustration over the year-end spending bill.
“At a meeting in Florida today, everyone was wondering why Republicans don’t fight guns and fight for Democrats to steal manipulated presidential elections?” Trump tweeted after returning to his private Mar -a-Lago “Especially in the Senate, they said, where you helped eight senators win their careers.”
“I’ll never forget!” wrote in another,
The statements underscored the concern that Trump would exploit the negotiations to punish lawmakers for what he considers his supportive loyalty to be insufficient.
Trump has not provided reliable evidence to support his election claims, which have also been refuted by a long list of officials, from former Attorney General William Barr to Republican governors, judges and local election administrators.
Meanwhile, the nation continues to roll as the coronavirus spreads, with record infections and hospitalizations and more than 327,000 deaths. And millions of people now face the possibility of spending the holidays alone or struggling to get the two heads without adequate income, food or shelter thanks to the economic weight of the pandemic.
On the occasion of the party, President and First Lady Melania Trump sent a tweet to a previously recorded video message in which they wished a Merry Christmas to the Americans and thanked the first people who responded and the military .
“As you know, this Christmas is different from years past,” said Ms. Trump, who focused on the acts of “kindness and courage” that the pandemic had inspired.
Trump congratulated the vaccine doses being administered and thanked those responsible. “It’s really a Christmas miracle,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have tried to save the year-end legislation to try to prevent a closure. Democrats will remind House lawmakers in Washington to vote on Trump’s $ 2,000 proposal Monday, though he would likely die in the Republican-controlled Senate. A vote on a failure measure on Monday to prevent at least one federal shutdown and keep the government running until Biden is inaugurated on January 20 is also being considered on Monday.
In addition to relief checks, the approved COVID bill would establish a temporary additional benefit of $ 300 per week for unemployment, provide a new round of grants for affected businesses, restaurants and theaters, and money for schools, and provide money for health care providers. medical care. and to assist with the distribution of the COVID vaccine.