President Donald Trump continued on Friday to push for an increase in the amount of direct payments that Covid’s massive stimulus package is expected to provide to Americans, but gave no indication as to whether to sign or veto the existing bill.
“I made a lot of calls and had meetings at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida. Why didn’t the politicians want to give people $ 2,000 instead of just $ 600? It wasn’t their fault, it was China. Give the money to our people!” Trump tweeted.
Covid’s aid legislation was sent overnight from Washigton and arrived at the Trumps’ Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the president is vacationing.
Lawmakers on Friday were still waiting to see how Trump would proceed with the year-end spending and the $ 900 billion Covid-19 aid package that passed the two chambers of Congress earlier this week. That project included a new round of direct payments of $ 600 and aid for unemployed Americans, families and companies struggling with the pandemic.
Trump condemned the bill, saying it includes many provisions that have nothing to do with the pandemic and that it is very stingy with payments to ordinary Americans.
Following Trump’s initial comments on Tuesday about his desire to increase the amount of the individual payment to $ 2,000, House Democrats rushed to schedule a vote to increase payments as required by the president. But Republicans killed the bill, questioning the future of any impending financial relief for millions of struggling Americans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats would vote on Monday for an autonomous bill that would provide direct payments to Americans of $ 2,000 per person.
Trump’s comments on Tuesday sent Washington into chaos after lawmakers spent months discussing a deal on most of the legislation of the year, and left many frustrated that Trump waited so long to voice his concerns after being left out of office. negotiation process.
Before Trump spoke, all signs and expectations were that he intended to sign the measure as soon as it landed on his desk. White House aides also said that.
A senior Senate Republican asked Trump on Thursday to sign the bill, adding that he did not support increased payments.
“The best way out of this is for the president to sign the bill, and I still hope that’s what he decides to do,” Roy Blunt, Missouri, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, told reporters.
Asked whether a bill to increase direct pay checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000 would have the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate, Blunt said: “No, no.”
The legislation already passed by Congress includes two bills that have been combined: one was the Covid-19 relief and stimulus bill and the other was a major bill to finance the government through September. If the spending bill is not approved, the government will have to start closing its doors from Tuesday.
