House minority leader Kevin McCarthy accused spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats of “selective hearing” on Wednesday night – after President Trump asked Congress to increase US coronavirus stimulus checks $ 600 to $ 2,000.
“They conveniently ignored @realDonaldTrump’s call to reexamine the tax dollars wasted abroad while so many Americans are fighting at home,” McCarthy wrote in a message on Twitter. “Republicans will act to put America first.”
In a letter accompanying his Republican colleagues, McCarthy said that Republicans tried to pass a stimulus bill more than 40 times, but were unsuccessful until this week because Pelosi “tried to use the American people as a lever to make coronavirus relief dependent on government funding – which includes billions of foreign aid [dollars] at a time when there are urgent needs at home. “
The minority leader wrote that Republicans should follow Trump’s example and “reexamine how our tax dollars are spent abroad” amid a pandemic that has been wreaking havoc in the United States for almost a year.
PELOSI PRESSES MCCARTHY TO AGREE TO MAJOR STIMULUS CHECKS AFTER TRUMP INTERVENTION
“Our government’s top priority must be our families, communities and small businesses as we overcome this pandemic and restore our country,” wrote McCarthy.
In a video posted on Tuesday night, Trump criticized foreign aid items in the Congressional approved bill that included “$ 85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia, $ 134 million for Burma” and millions more to other countries, as well as domestic allocations that he described as “unnecessary and useless items”.
“It’s called Covid’s relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid,” said the president.
Trump asked Congress to revise the bill, insisting that lawmakers cut other expenses so they could send $ 2,000 stimulus checks to Americans instead of the $ 600 required on the bill.
Democrats like Pelosi, Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders quickly took advantage of Trump’s support for the $ 2,000 checks – and the idea they had supported. On Wednesday, Pelosi asked the president to urge McCarthy to have House Republicans join Democrats in approving the highest value of the check by “unanimous consent” in a vote on Thursday morning.
In his letter on Wednesday, McCarthy responded to Pelosi, saying the Republicans would offer a unanimous request for consent – but, instead, it would have to do with rejecting the foreign aid spending that Congress approved.
“It will be up to the Mayor of Pelosi to decide whether he wants to act on behalf of the American people,” McCarthy wrote.
On Wednesday, Pelosi criticized President Trump for not expressing his concerns earlier in the process, while lawmakers negotiated the stimulus package they sent to his desk.
“Just when you think you saw everything last night, the president said he would possibly veto the bicameral deal negotiated between Republicans and Democrats,” Pelosi wrote to House Democrats.
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“… In bipartisan negotiations, leader Schumer and I repeatedly asked Republicans what would be the highest number the president would accept for direct payments, and they responded with a silence similar to that of the Sphinx. In negotiations, they would never exceed $ 600 and in some cases, proposed $ 500. “
After raising his concerns on Tuesday, the president left for Florida on Wednesday – leaving it to Congress to decide whether to make changes to the package that the president appeared to have no intention of sanctioning.
Tyler Olson of Fox News contributed to this story.