President Trump’s call to Congress to amend $ 900 billion COVID-19 relief bill to increase direct payments to eligible Americans from $ 600 to $ 2,000 can’t go through the Senate, according to one of the top Republicans of the corps, who said he expects the commander-in-chief to do so. sign the measure.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo) warned that it would be “a mistake” not to sign the coronavirus relief bill.
“There has been some apparent misunderstanding about what’s in the regular appropriation bill and what’s in the COVID relief bill, and in general the regular appropriation bill includes things that l ‘administration demanded,’ the Senate No. 4 Republican began.
“It simply came to our notice then. I think that reopening this bill would be a mistake “, he continued.
Asked what was the best way out of this political stalemate, the Republican lawmaker replied, “The best way to get it is for the president to sign the bill and I still hope that’s what he decides.” .
Blunt’s comments make him the highest-ranking member of the Senate Republican Party leadership to respond to since President Trump called the bipartisan aid bill a “disgrace” Tuesday night and called on Congress to amend it.
Blunt warned that the Republican Party would not fall if the Democratic-led House amended the bill to increase payment amounts.
“Yes [Democrats did that]”I would be surprised if we tried,” the Missouri senator said.
Pressed on whether a $ 2,000 bill would be able to get the 60 votes needed to pass in the upper house of Congress, Blunt said, “I wouldn’t.”
The coronavirus relief bill, the subject of months of negotiations between party leaders and the White House, was included along with a $ 1.4 trillion measure to keep the government open until September.
The deadline to avoid a government shutdown is December 29th.
But the large 5,585-page assistance bill is still being prepared by Congress, where lawmakers have denounced the lack of time they have to evaluate legislation.
With publishing cables