Mayor, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., September 28, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The House will vote on Monday on raising the second round of direct federal payments to $ 2,000, with Democrats accepting President Donald Trump’s calls to put more money in Americans’ pockets.
The move would increase stimulus checks in the government financing and coronavirus relief package at the end of the year from $ 600 to $ 2,000. The vote comes a day after Trump signed the $ 2 trillion pandemic aid law and government spending for one year.
Last week, the president called the legislation “shame”. He waited days to sign the package after receiving it from Congress. Trump claimed that he opposed the bill – that his Treasury secretary helped negotiate and that it included many of his White House’s budget priorities – because it included too little direct money for Americans and too much foreign aid.
Trump pushed for $ 2,000 in payments in the past few days. In a statement explaining his decision to sign the legislation on Sunday, he noted that the House and, potentially, the Senate could approve larger cash deposits. However, most Republicans in the Senate held by the Republican Party were even opposed to a check for $ 1,200.
Trump’s maneuver ends with a chaotic eight months of efforts in Washington to send another round of coronavirus relief. Americans waited months for more help after the financial lifelines that helped them in the first months of the pandemic expired during the summer. Trump’s delays in signing the year-end bill cost about 14 million unemployed Americans a week in unemployment benefits, after two major aid programs expired briefly.
The president’s signature prevented a government shutdown that would have started on Tuesday. Further delays would also have hampered a federal eviction moratorium, which the project extends for a month until January 31.
Democrats called the aid project an advance and plan to push for more aid after President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. As they had asked for higher direct payments during aid negotiations, they accepted the president’s support for $ 2,000 deposits.
In a statement on Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Asked Trump to put more pressure on his party to support payments during Monday’s vote.
“Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial difficulties that families face and to deny the American people the relief they need,” she said.
In his own statement on Sunday, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said he is “happy that the American people will receive this much needed assistance while our nation continues to fight this pandemic.” However, he did not mention any plans to raise the $ 2,000 payment bill if the House is approved.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. said on Sunday that he would try to pass legislation in the Senate.
“No Democrat will object. Will the Senate Republicans?” he tweeted.
House Democrats have already tried to approve $ 2,000 payments by unanimous consent during a pro-forma session on Thursday. However, the vote failed because the minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Did not approve it.
The chamber will have a full vote on Monday. Two-thirds support will be needed to go through a procedure that allows the House to vote on legislation more quickly.
Earlier this month, Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Twice rejected attempts to unanimously approve $ 1,200 direct payments in the Senate. Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. And Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Pressed for checks as part of the aid package.
Schumer’s decision to put pressure on Senate Republicans comes when two Republican presidents – Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler – compete in the second round of January 5 in Georgia, which will determine control of the Senate and shape the success of Biden’s agenda. Democrats have made pandemic relief an important issue in the races.
The $ 900 billion pandemic aid portion of the legislation includes payments of $ 600 together with a federal unemployment insurance supplement of $ 300 a week through mid-March. It extends programs that allow self-employed, work and self-employed workers to receive benefits and increases the number of weeks that people can receive insurance.
The project puts more than $ 300 billion more in support of small businesses, mainly in the form of forgiving loans from the Salary Protection Program. He creates a $ 25 billion rental assistance fund.
It includes more than $ 8 billion to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine and $ 20 billion to make vaccines free for Americans. It also puts $ 82 billion in education, while schools struggle to reopen, and $ 45 billion in transportation, which includes airline payroll support.
The aid package does not put money into aid from the state and local government, which Democrats and many Republicans support as a measure to prevent layoffs. However, Republican Party leaders were opposed to approving aid without also creating protection for companies against coronavirus-related lawsuits.
Democrats plan to push for state and local support and another round of direct payments, among other aid measures, after Biden takes office.
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