McConnell, in particular, criticized progressive senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) For making the defense bill a collateral damage in the stimulus fight. Sanders is leading the charge with conservative Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) For $ 2,000 stimulus checks, which were passed by the majority in the House earlier this week at Trump’s request. Trump ridiculed the stimulus legislation, which he finally signed on Sunday, which would only grant $ 600 stimulus checks to Americans.
“The Senate will not allow our national security to be taken off course, it certainly will not be senators who have spent years, literally years, trying to destroy the capabilities of the United States while our opponents continue to advance,” said McConnell of Sanders.
The majority leader, who effectively dismissed consideration of the House’s stimulus check bill version, sought to couple the stimulus impulse with unrelated provisions designed to placate Trump’s demands to address legal protections for technology companies and his unfounded allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 election.
“The ball is in McConnell’s side. All he needs to do is give us a vote up or down, ”said Sanders, who joined Hawley in the bipartisan campaign.
McConnell said the House bill on stimulus checks “does not have a realistic way to get through the Senate quickly,” even as Trump continues to argue with McConnell and Republican Party leaders for his refusal to follow his demands.
By delaying the final vote, leading Democrats emphasized their support for the defense bill in the Senate floor this week. But they added that the chamber should also address the issue of increasing stimulus checks – and indicated that they will still try to force the version that the Chamber approved this week on stimulus checks.
“There is a very simple solution to this dilemma: leader McConnell must bring both measures to a vote and let the chips fall where they can,” said minority leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.). “I believe that both measures – defense waivers and $ 2,000 checks for American families – will be approved.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) predicted that the Senate would follow the House and overturn Trump’s veto on the defense bill, calling it a question of “how long do people want to extend this”.
“I think we know what the outcome will be,” Cornyn told reporters. “As I always say, we can do it the hard way or the easiest way and we often choose the hard way.
Trump vetoed the defense bill over his attempt to repeal these legal shields, even after legislation released both chambers with bipartisan super majorities earlier this month.
Despite the impasse of stimulus, the annulment of the veto is still advancing in the Senate. Senators easily voted from 80 to 12 on Wednesday night to begin considering the measure.
McConnell then organized votes on the annulment of the veto, with a final vote entering the new year and probably taking place just hours before the new Congress took office on Sunday. A series of special military payment and benefit measures would also temporarily expire after December 31, if the account was not already in the books.
Unless senators agree to vote early, a procedural vote requiring 60 votes will take place on Friday, followed by an additional 30 hours of debate, pushing a final veto vote for Saturday.
The president also opposed NDAA provisions that would force the renaming of bases that honor Confederate leaders and limit their efforts to reduce US troop levels in Afghanistan and Europe.
The House voted to override Trump’s veto on a 322-87 break on Monday.
The Senate must follow suit. It is unclear how many Republicans can side with Trump and exchange votes for annulment, although a large number of Republican senators would have to reverse the course to end the bill.
If the Senate can muster a two-thirds majority to override Trump’s veto, Congress will have made a rare legislative reprimand to the president – and the first and only veto override of his presidency. Trump vetoed legislation to stop using Pentagon funds to build a border wall and to stop accelerated arms sales to the Middle East, but lawmakers never came close to overturning his vetoes.