WASHINGTON – Donald Trump is stepping down in the same way that he spent much of his presidency: putting his party leaders in an obstacle between his ideological instincts and personal loyalty to him.
Trump’s demand that stimulus payments be increased to a maximum of $ 2,000 per person has been approved by the Democratic-led House. But he faces an escalation in the Republican-led Senate, where his party leaders are now torn between conservative orthodoxy and the demands of Republican Party voters for loyalty to Trump and his desire to win a crucial Senate election in Georgia in 5 of January.
On Tuesday, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., asked for unanimous consent to increase payments from $ 600 approved to $ 2,000. But Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Objected on behalf of Republicans, blocking the request.
The switch came after Trump suspended the $ 900 billion coronavirus relief package for six days, complaining after it was approved by Congress that the $ 600 stimulus payments were too small. When he finally blinked and signed, the president said he did it with concessions.
“The Senate will start the voting process that increases checks to $ 2,000, repeals Section 230 and initiates an investigation into electoral fraud,” Trump said in a statement.
Democrats quickly accepted the $ 2,000 payment request, placing the ball in McConnell’s field.
The two Georgia Republican Party senators facing voters next Tuesday, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, faced pressure from Democratic opponents Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to support the $ 2,000 checks. After hesitating, the two Republicans tweeted on Tuesday that they go support the increase to $ 2,000.
It is an uncomfortable place for two conservative lawmakers who have campaigned strongly against a march to “socialism” and an intrusive government. The new position leaves aside its complaints about the national debt, since the increase in direct payments would add almost $ 464 billion in red ink. And that comes days before Trump set up a meeting for them on Monday, the day before the election, near Atlanta.
His Democratic rivals attacked, accusing Republicans of changing their positions for political convenience.
Warnock said that Loeffler is absent in the Covid-19 relief and that “Georgians learned a long time ago that they cannot trust Kelly Loeffler to take care of anyone but herself”. Ossoff highlighted Perdue’s earlier criticisms of direct payments, saying he “has not changed his mind – he is exclusively focused on his own political survival”.
During the lengthy and painstaking negotiations that led to the $ 900 billion package, Republicans resisted the inclusion of more direct payments, but ended up accepting a $ 600 level per qualified American – half the value of the CARES Act in March.
Stimulus payments are popular at a time of great unemployment, while millions of Americans struggle to pay rent and buy food during the pandemic. Overtly rejecting them would be painful for the Republican Party and potentially undermine Georgia’s runoff, which will determine which party controls the Senate.
McConnell suggested an exit on Tuesday.
He described Trump’s demands as “intertwined”, indicating that he can advance the three in a single package, forcing Democrats to approve a mix of policies together or overturn them all.
“This week, the Senate will start a process to bring these three priorities into focus,” he said.
Although McConnell was not specific about the policies he would come up with, combining the $ 2,000 payments with two other contentious issues could attract Republican Party votes and, at the same time, decrease his likelihood of approval.
The question of what to do about Section 230 – short for an Internet liability law that affects social media companies – divides lawmakers. And any voting measures that reinforce Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread fraud are likely to be viewed by Democrats as poison pills.
Such a package could be designed to attract the support of the Republican Party, allowing Loeffler and Perdue to say that they voted for the highest payments, while not reaching the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.
Trump did not demand that the three provisions be tied. He pushed for $ 2,000 in payments after McConnell’s objection on Tuesday, saying that refusing to approve them would amount to “a death wish” for Republicans.
Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, told reporters that it is unclear what such legislation would entail.
“There are still some discussions as to whether it can be combined with anything else,” he said on Tuesday, suggesting that it be attached to a liability shield for employers.
Schumer said the only way to guarantee an increase in payment at this session of Congress is to vote on the CASH Act, which passed the House on Monday with the support of 231 Democrats and 44 Republicans.
“An overwhelming bipartisan majority in the House supports checks for $ 2,000. Senate Democrats strongly support checks for $ 2,000. Even President Trump supports checks for $ 2,000,” he said. “One question remains today: do Senate Republicans join the rest of America in supporting $ 2,000 checks?”
Also on Tuesday, McConnell said the Senate would vote to “re-approve” a major military authorization bill vetoed by Trump, establishing the first annulment of his presidency after the House reached the required two-thirds limit on Monday. .
But there is a wrinkle in that plan: Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Is threatening to suspend the defense bill unless there is a vote on the $ 2,000 payments. Such a move could force Loeffler and Perdue to choose between campaigning or staying in Washington to remove procedural obstacles.
“If Senator McConnell does not agree with a favorable or negative vote to provide workers in our country with a direct payment of $ 2,000, Congress will not go home on New Year’s Eve,” said Sanders.
A Sanders spokesman said his objection remains, unless McConnell calls for an independent vote on the House approved CASH Act, calling it “the only viable way” to increase checks before the session ends.