Unemployment insurance for millions of Americans has ended, as Republican and Democratic officials urged President Donald Trump on Sunday to sign government spending legislation that includes a new coronavirus stimulus bill.
Trump put the entire $ 900 billion package at risk last week, when he suddenly demanded that Congress approve $ 2,000 for direct payments, instead of the $ 600 provided for in legislation. The measure would also finance the federal government until September 30, which means that a strike would begin on Tuesday without the president’s signature or other Congressional actions.
“Sign the bill and do it,” said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, on CNN’s State of the Union. “And so, if the president wants to push for more, we will do that too. We will work together in a bipartisan way. It would be a great way for him to end the government. “
“You can’t play with the bill,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. From ABC, at This Week. “Sign the bill, Mr. President, and then immediately, Monday, Tuesday, we can pass a direct payment of $ 2,000 to working families in this country.”
US Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Agreed that the president should sign the bill now. Trump can always argue for a separate bill by increasing direct payments to $ 2,000, Toomey said.
“You don’t get everything you want, even though you’re president of the United States,” Toomey told Fox News on Sunday. “We have a project now that your government has helped to negotiate. I think we should do this. “
“When he leaves office, I understand that he wants to be remembered for defending big checks,” added Toomey, saying he is opposed to $ 2,000 checks. “But the danger is that he will be remembered for chaos, misery and erratic behavior if he allows it to expire.”
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Discussions took place before the scheduled House vote on Monday on separate legislation increasing payments to $ 2,000. On Thursday, House Democrats tried to approve the bill by unanimous consent, but Republicans blocked the attempt.
Members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation joined the chorus of lawmakers on Sunday asking Trump to sign the original legislation.
Congressman Tom Malinowski, D-7th Dist., Tweeted that “millions of Americans are losing unemployment insurance due to the president’s inaction. There is no excuse for the president to delay this vital assistance, “and US Democratic Senator Cory Booker said that” states will not have essential funds to distribute the vaccine “if the bill is not sanctioned.
And members of the bipartisan group of senators and deputies, who started stimulus negotiations with their $ 908 billion proposal, on Sunday asked them to act quickly to sign or veto the legislation.
“We are asking you to sign the emergency relief bill,” said lawmakers, including Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist. “However, if your objection to the relief bill COVID-19 prevents you from signing, veto it immediately. You have made your position clear and quickly rejecting it will allow those in favor to act before it is too late. “
The $ 900 billion package, which included $ 600 stimulus checks, more money for small businesses and an 11-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits, was approved by Congress last Monday and was applauded by the secretary of Trump’s Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, who helped negotiate the measure.
“Everyone assumed, everyone, that Mnuchin was representing the White House,” said Sanders at ABC. “And that was the assumption that everyone had.”
But then Trump tweeted on Tuesday night that the legislation was “a shame” and called for the checks to be increased to $ 2,000 and repeated his demand over the weekend.
It is unlikely that there will be enough support among Senate Republicans to approve the highest payments, according to US Senator Roy Blunt, R-Mo., The fourth-ranking Republican Senator in the House.
“I would be surprised if we solve this,” said Blunt last week.
Jonathan D. Salant can be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter @JDSalant.
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