Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, D-California, September 28, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The House will vote Monday to raise the second round of federal direct payments to $ 2,000, while Democrats accept calls from President Donald Trump to put more money in the pockets of Americans.
The measure would increase stimulus controls on the year-end government funding and coronavirus relief package to $ 2,000, from $ 600. The vote comes a day after Trump signed the more than $ 2 trillion pandemic aid and government spending law all year.
Last week, the president called the legislation a “disgrace.” He waited days to sign the package after receiving it from Congress. Trump claimed to oppose the bill, which his Secretary of the Treasury helped negotiate and which included many of his White House budget priorities, because it included too little direct money to Americans and too much foreign aid.
Trump has pushed for $ 2,000 payments in recent days. In a statement explaining his decision to sign the legislation on Sunday, he noted that the House and potentially the Senate could approve the larger cash deposits. However, most Republicans in the Republican Party Senate have even opposed a $ 1,200 check.
Trump’s gambit overcomes the chaotic eight months of efforts in Washington to send another round of coronavirus relief. Americans waited months for more help after the expiration of the financial lifelines that helped them during the early months of the pandemic over the summer. Trump’s delays in signing the year-end bill cost approximately 14 million unemployed Americans a week in unemployment benefits after two key assistance programs briefly expired.
The president’s signing prevented a government shutdown that would have begun on Tuesday. Further delays would also have jeopardized a federal eviction moratorium, which the bill extends a month until Jan. 31.
Democrats have qualified the payment of the relief bill and plan to push for more aid after President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Because they had demanded higher direct payments during aid talks, they jumped to the president’s support for $ 2,000 deposits.
In a statement Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, called on Trump to put more pressure on his party to respond to payments during Monday’s vote.
“All Republican votes against this bill are a vote to deny the financial hardships families face and to deny the American people the relief they need,” he said.
In his own statement Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said he is “glad that the American people are receiving this much-needed assistance while our nation continues to fight this pandemic.” . However, he did not mention any plans to file the $ 2,000 payment bill if the House approves it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said Sunday he would try to pass legislation in the Senate.
“No Democrat will oppose. Senate Republicans?” he tweeted.
House Democrats have already tried to approve the $ 2,000 payments by unanimous consent during a pro-forma session on Thursday. Still, the vote failed because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, did not approve it.
The House will hold a full vote on Monday. It will need two-thirds of support to pass a procedure that will allow the House to vote on legislation more quickly.
Earlier this month, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Twice rejected attempts to unanimously pass $ 1,200 direct to the Senate. Mr. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Pushed the controls as part of the relief package.
Schumer’s move to put pressure on Republicans in the Senate comes as two Republican incumbents, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, compete in the Jan. 5 qualifiers in Georgia that will determine Senate control and shape the success of the Senate. ‘Biden’s agenda. Democrats have made pandemic relief a major running issue.
The $ 900 billion pandemic aid portion of the legislation includes $ 600 payments along with a $ 300 federal unemployment insurance supplement per week in mid-March. It expands programs that allow self-employed, contracted and self-employed workers to receive benefits and increase the number of weeks people can receive insurance.
The bill puts more than $ 300 billion more in support of small businesses, mostly in the form of forgivable loans from the Payment Check Protection Program. It creates a $ 25 billion rental assistance fund.
It includes more than $ 8 billion for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and $ 20 billion to make Americans free. It also puts $ 82 billion in education as schools struggle to reopen and $ 45 billion in transportation, which includes airline payroll support.
The assistance package does not put money into the assistance of state and local government, which Democrats and many Republicans support as a measure to prevent layoffs. However, Republican Party leaders have opposed approving the aid without creating a shield for companies against coronavirus-related lawsuits.
Democrats plan to boost state and local support and another round of direct payments, among other aid measures, after Biden takes office.
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