President-elect Joe Biden asked President Donald Trump to sign the $ 2.3 trillion government funding and coronavirus aid package on Saturday, criticizing the outgoing president for delaying aid at the last minute and allowing essential services, as increased unemployment benefits, expire.
“It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families do not know whether they will be able to pay the bills because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to sign an economic relief bill passed by Congress with an overwhelming, two-party majority,” said Biden. said in a statement.
“This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences.”
Trump questioned Covid-19’s huge relief and the government’s funding project on Tuesday when he threatened to veto the bill after it passed both Congressional chambers with a strong majority. In a video posted on Twitter, Trump complained that the bill contained many provisions unrelated to the pandemic and argued that direct payments to Americans were too low.
The bill was sent from Washington to Florida on Thursday night, where Trump is vacationing at his Palm Beach resort. It is not yet clear whether Trump will sign it.
The government is financed until Monday. Failure to sign the bill before that could lead to a standstill and delay the much needed relief from the coronavirus.
“I simply want our great people to receive $ 2,000, instead of the meager $ 600 that is now in the account. Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork’,” Trump tweeted on Saturday.
Trump’s comments on Tuesday sent Washington into chaos after lawmakers spent months discussing a deal on most of the legislation in 2020 and left many frustrated because Trump waited so long to voice his concerns after being left out of the negotiation process.
Trump was expected to sign the bill as soon as it arrived at his desk.
Following Trump’s comments on raising the value of direct payments per individual to $ 2,000, House Democrats on Thursday rushed to schedule a vote to increase payments as required by the president. But Republicans killed the bill, questioning the future of any impending financial relief for millions of struggling Americans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats would vote on Monday for an autonomous bill that would provide direct payments to Americans of $ 2,000 per person.
The House is also expected to consider a palliative measure on Monday to avoid a federal strike and keep the government running until Biden takes office on January 20.
Biden had encouraged Congress to approve coronavirus relief before the end of the year, but assured Americans on Saturday that more relief would come after his inauguration.
“This project is fundamental. It needs to be sanctioned now. But it is also a first step and a signal for more actions that we will need to take at the beginning of the new year to revive the economy and contain the pandemic – including meeting the extreme need for financing to distribute and administer the vaccine and increase our testing capacity, “said Biden.
