Trump refused to sign the bill without including $ 2,000 in direct payments.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading proponent of direct payments issued by the government to Americans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, argued on Sunday that despite his – and President Donald Trump’s last minute – reservations about the size of checks inside of the currently paralyzed relief bill, it needs to be signed immediately.
“My opinion is that, given the terrible economic crisis this country is facing, yes, we need to distribute $ 2,000 to every working class individual in this country, $ 500 to their children – but you can’t play with the bill,” Sanders , I-Vt., Told ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl on Sunday “This Week”.
Although the aid package, approved last week by Congress, contains checks for $ 1,400 less than the senator – and then Trump – lobbied, Sanders proposed an alternative solution in a White House directive.
“Sign the law, Mr. President, and then immediately – Monday, Tuesday – we can approve a direct payment of $ 2,000 for working families in this country,” said Sanders.
The $ 900 billion relief legislation, passed by both Congressional chambers last week, remained in limbo on Sunday as Trump refused to sign the bill without including $ 2,000 in direct payments. The current package includes checks for $ 600 for Americans earning less than $ 75,000 a year, half of the $ 1,200 sent earlier this year.
The year-end deal came after months of negotiations dating back to May, when House Democrats passed a $ 3 trillion bill. The Trump administration, concerned about the overall cost, initially presented a $ 1 trillion counterproposal, before increasing the total by another $ 800 billion in October – a proposal rejected by Democrats.
“Was that a retrospective mistake?” Karl asked in “This Week”. “Should Democrats have accepted the offer for a $ 1.8 trillion aid project?”
“All I can say, Jonathan, is that, given the enormity of the problems we face, $ 900 billion is simply not enough,” said Sanders. “We should have talked about at least twice that, maybe even more.”
The senator said, however, that at no time during the talks did Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – who led the negotiations on behalf of the government – expressed Trump’s preference for $ 2,000 in direct payments, now delaying the signature.
“Not a word,” said Sanders.
Overnight, two federal unemployment pandemic programs have expired, leaving millions of Americans without financial assistance, while the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to disrupt the economy and result in business closings. A possible government shutdown is also approaching on Monday at midnight, as the relief bill is linked to federal endowment legislation for fiscal year 2021.
“So you will not have all the protections that workers need, and in addition, we may be facing a government shutdown amid the most difficult moment in modern US history,” said Sanders. “It’s crazy. It’s really crazy and this president has to finally … do the right thing for the American people and stop worrying about his ego.”
Democrats – with whom Sanders cauces – are hopeful that the current bill is only the first step in providing additional support to the public, businesses and state and local governments. President-elect Joe Biden has indicated that his new government will push for another round of relief in late January.
“If we can get through this Trump administration in the coming weeks without doing terrible damage to the American people, I suspect that one of the first items on Biden’s agenda will be to follow what we are doing here to provide that kind of assistance,” said Sanders.
The senator has also repeated his disappointment with the ideological composition of the Biden Cabinet nominations so far. After finishing second after Biden during this year’s Democratic presidential primaries, Sanders formed policy recommendation task forces with the former vice president and claimed that Biden had a chance to be “the most progressive president” since Franklin Roosevelt .
But in “This week”, the senator said that the president-elect has not yet surrendered a position in the Cabinet to the “progressive movement, which he claims to include” 35 or 40% of the Democratic coalition “and” deserves seats “.
Pressed by Karl on one of the high-level positions for which a nominee has not yet been named, Sanders expressed even more dissatisfaction.
“Some reports suggest that Merrick Garland is the favorite (for attorney general),” said Karl. “Would Merrick Garland be a progressive enough choice from your perspective?”
“I think we could probably have a stronger progressive than him,” said the senator. “But I will not comment on Biden’s specific nominations.”