Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C. supported President Trump’s request for $ 2,000 stimulus checks on Friday after the Senate majority leader and other Senate Republicans blocked a last-minute offer for higher direct payments in the latest coronavirus relief package.
Trump and lawmakers on both sides of the political corridor have asked the Senate to approve $ 2,000 for direct payments, compared to $ 600 that would be distributed earlier this week. But Mitch McConnell and other Republicans plunged their efforts into an autonomous vote before the end of the current session of Congress.
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“With all due respect to my Republican colleagues, a direct payment of $ 2,000 to individuals and families who are struggling is not socialism,” Graham wrote on Twitter. “In my opinion, it is necessary in the times in which we live.”
McConnell and his allies argued that a proposed increase in the size of direct payments would further increase the national debt and send money to American families without an extreme need. He introduced a bill earlier this week that would link any vote on checks for $ 2,000 to a package that included the repeal of Section 230 and the establishment of an electoral integrity commission, among other initiatives supported by the Republican Party.
McConnell doubled his position on Friday as he blocked last-minute attempts to call an autonomous vote on checks, arguing that the package outlined by prominent Democrats “would be essentially socialism for the rich.”
Graham rejected the position of his Republican colleague.
“Going from $ 600 to $ 2,000 doesn’t make you a socialist,” added Graham. “Mr. President, continue to fight for the American people who are suffering. Insist on an autonomous vote.”
The Senate Republican leadership drew the president’s ire after the upper house voted to overturn Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. Trump called the vote “pathetic” and once again turned against Republicans for not supporting higher direct payments.
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“Now they want to give people devastated by the China Virus $ 600, instead of the $ 2,000 they desperately need. It’s not fair or smart!” Trump tweeted.