- House Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to increase the size of the stimulus checks included in the latest coronavirus relief bill from $ 600 to $ 2,000 on Thursday morning.
- “If the president takes direct payments of $ 2,000 seriously, he must ask House Republicans to end their obstruction,” said Nancy Pelosi in a statement.
- Pelosi also said he will hold a registered vote on a Democratic plan to increase the size of stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000.
- Trump suggested that he cannot sign the coronavirus legislation unless major changes are made, including increasing the size of stimulus payments.
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House Republicans just blocked an attempt by Democrats to pass $ 2,000 stimulus checks to tens of millions of Americans on Thursday morning.
Democratic Congressional leaders moved to increase the size of direct payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 using “unanimous consent”, which means that every legislator had to approve it. The Republican House Party blocked the move, which could put them on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who is demanding increased aid payments as part of coronavirus relief legislation.
He suggested on Tuesday night in a video posted on Twitter that he cannot sign the bipartisan plan if major changes are not made to the package, including increasing the size of stimulus payments from $ 600 per person to $ 2,000.
Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi criticized the Republican step in a statement on Thursday morning.
“If the president takes direct payments of $ 2,000 seriously, he should ask House Republicans to end their obstruction,” she said.
The California Democrat also said she would bring the House back to the session on Monday to conduct a recorded vote on legislation to increase payments to $ 2,000. “To vote against this bill is to deny the financial difficulties that families face and to deny them the relief they need,” said Pelosi.
The procedural measures come as Trump threatens to destroy the approval of a $ 900 billion economic aid plan, along with a $ 1.4 trillion spending account to finance the government until next year. The two pieces of legislation were combined into a single 5,593-page tax and expense package to accelerate their approval during the Congress session.
The negotiated coronavirus relief package included $ 600 stimulus payments for Americans, $ 300 federal unemployment benefits in mid-March, $ 25 billion in rental assistance, small business aid and education funding as well.
On Thursday, House Democrats also blocked a move by Republicans to revise US spending on foreign aid within the government’s financing component of the legislation.
It is unclear whether Trump will stand by his threat. The overhead package and federal relief legislation were passed in both chambers on Monday night with deep bipartisan support, possibly paving the way for Congress to override the presidential veto.
However, Trump was expected to sign the legislation this week, and Republicans may be reluctant to act against him, given his strong popularity among Republican voters.
The delay in approving the federal bailout package could have dire consequences for many Americans. Nearly 14 million Americans are threatened with losing all unemployment benefits in two days if government aid programs are not renewed.
In addition, an eviction moratorium is set to expire at the end of the month, and many Americans may end up losing their homes. The government will also close at midnight on Monday if Trump does not sign the package, and lawmakers would have to approve an interim financing measure to avoid it.
“The eviction moratorium expires on December 31 and tens of millions of people are at risk of losing their homes this winter during the height of COVID-19. A CR will not protect them,” Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Alliance , tweeted, referring to a short-term federal financing account. “The president must sign the bipartisan and bicameral relief bill NOW.”
Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Senate Republican leadership, encouraged him to support the legislation.
“I believe we will not close,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “And I hope the president will look at that again and come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to sign the bill.”