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McConnell said checks were ‘linked’ with other Trump priorities

Tyler Olson | Fox News — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 11:22:52 +0000

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the Senate will address President Trump’s request to increase stimulus checks sent to Americans to $2,000, but did not commit to pushing the issue as he blocked attempts by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to put the House bill on $2,000 stimulus checks up for quick consideration.

That led Trump to launch a Twitter broadside against Senate Republicans, warning them that if they don’t have a “death wish” they’ll back the boosted checks.

Schumer’s request would have passed the stimulus checks Tuesday afternoon. Sanders’ request would have set a vote on the bill for stimulus checks Wednesday afternoon.

Jason Donner@jason_donner

Sen. Mitch McConnell objected to Sen. Schumer asking the Senate to pass by unanimous consent the $2000 direct payments bill that the House passed last night by 2/3 bipartisan vote.

Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell acknowledged that Trump “would like further direct financial support for American households.” He also mentioned that Trump wants Congress to address Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides protections for companies that host third-party content on their platforms — like Facebook and Twitter — and that Trump wants Congress to look into election security.

130 HOUSE REPUBLICANS, 2 DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST $2,000 STIMULUS CHECKS

“Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together,” McConnell said. “This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.”

Notably, McConnell did not promise action on the $2,000 stimulus checks. Whether the Senate even gets to a cloture vote — a vote to end debate and proceed to a final vote — on the stimulus checks will be up to McConnell. He controls Senate floor action.

If Trump gets his way, McConnell will bring the checks up for a vote.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump

Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2000 payments ASAP. $600 IS NOT ENOUGH! Also, get rid of Section 230 – Don’t let Big Tech steal our Country, and don’t let the Democrats steal the Presidential Election. Get tough!

The Washington Post@washingtonpost

McConnell blocks Senate Democrats’ initial attempt to approve $2,000 stimulus checks amid growing pressure on GOP leader to act washingtonpost.com/powerpost/stim

“Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2000 payments ASAP,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “$600 IS NOT ENOUGH! Also, get rid of Section 230 – Don’t let Big Tech steal our Country, and don’t let the Democrats steal the Presidential Election. Get tough!”

Sanders then objected to McConnell’s attempt to quickly move to a vote to override Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

STIMULUS CHECKS ROUND 2: WHAT TO EXPECT

“There are only a few days left in this session,” Schumer said, urging the Senate to prioritize relief checks. “We should not adjourn until the Senate holds a vote on both measures: the NDAA veto override and the House bill to provide $2,000 checks for the American people.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Sens. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga.; David Perdue, R-Ga.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; and Marco Rubio, R.-Fla., have backed the House legislation for $2,000 stimulus checks, which passed with more than a two-thirds majority Monday.

Jason Donner@jason_donner

Bernie Sanders on Senate Floor regarding $2000 direct payment checks says “working families need help now” and a 2/3 bipartisan vote in the House “did the right thing” and “now time for the senate to step up to the plate.”

Seven more Senate Republicans would need to come out in support of the checks in order to break a filibuster on a cloture vote and set the issue for an up-or-down vote.

Sanders’ objection to McConnell’s attempt to quickly consider the NDAA veto led McConnell to schedule a vote on a motion to proceed on the veto override for Wednesday afternoon. McConnell could file cloture to end debate on the override Wednesday night, which would allow the Senate to take up that cloture vote on Jan. 1.

This tees up a potential vote on the actual veto override for Saturday, Jan. 2.

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That puts Congress on a tight timeline on both the veto override and the stimulus checks. The current Congress must adjourn by Jan. 3.

Fox News’ Jason Donner contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-blocks-2000-stimulus-checks-quick-vote

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House GOP, Dems stymie requests to reconsider stimulus, spending package after Trump grievances

Tyler Olson | Fox News — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 19:40:20 +0000

Christmas Eve maneuvers are in response to grievances Trump aired oversize of stimulus checks, foreign aid.

House Republicans and Democrats Thursday blocked each others’ “unanimous consent” requests after President Trump aired grievances Tuesday night to the massive coronavirus stimulus and government funding package lawmakers sent to his desk.

Democrats’ request aimed at sending $2,000 relief checks to Americans. Republicans’ request on revisiting foreign aid, the other element of Trump’s twofold objections to the stimulus and spending legislation.

In order to put forward a unanimous consent request during a pro forma session, as the House was in Thursday, the speaker and the leaders of both the minority and majority must agree.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who said Democrats’ proposal was “consistent” with Trump’s request, was present to represent Democrats while Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., represented Republicans. Each side blocked the others’ attempts to bring unanimous consent requests.

The brief and unfruitful exchange of political barbs came as it’s still unclear whether Trump will veto the original piece of legislation. Even as he attacked it Tuesday he did not explicitly say he’d veto it.

Trump on Tuesday night released a scathing video in which he called panned $600 stimulus checks for Americans as too small, saying the number should instead be $2,000.

He also demanded that “wasteful and unnecessary” spending – Trump specifically listed foreign aid to several countries, along with a few other line-items – be cut from the year-end spending package which lawmakers married to the coronavirus aid so it could all be passed in one vote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., are backing dueling unanimous consent requests on the House floor on Christmas Eve after President Trump earlier this week aired grievances about the massive government funding and coronavirus legislation lawmakers sent to his desk. (AP)

“A few months ago, Congress started negotiations on a new package to get urgently needed help to the American people. It’s taken forever,” Trump said. “However, the bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. It really is a disgrace.”

Some lawmakers, especially in the House Freedom Caucus, voiced process objections to the way the monstrous, 5,000-page-plus legislation was moved through Congress in one fell swoop, saying it should have been split into several votes. Trump, however, appeared to confuse the reason for why the spending and the stimulus came to his desk at the same time.

But that nuance mattered little to Democrats. They immediately seized on Trump’s comments to taunt Republicans and call for them to get on board with the $2,000 checks, which many in the GOP opposed throughout the months-long coronavirus negotiations process from which the president was largely absent.

Nancy Pelosi@SpeakerPelosi

Mr. President, sign the bill to keep government open! Urge McConnell and McCarthy to agree with the Democratic unanimous consent request for $2,000 direct payments! This can be done by noon on Christmas Eve!

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., swiftly announced plans to bring a stand-alone piece of legislation to the House floor Thursday in a pro forma session, to boost the stimulus checks to $2,000. By asking for unanimous consent to pass it essentially dared House Republicans to object — which they did.

“Mr. President, sign the bill to keep government open! Urge McConnell and McCarthy to agree with the Democratic unanimous consent request for $2,000 direct payments! This can be done by noon on Christmas Eve!” Pelosi tweeted Wednesday.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Wednesday evening responded by announcing Republicans would put forward their own unanimous consent request on foreign aid.

Kevin McCarthy@GOPLeader

Democrats appear to be suffering from selective hearing. They’ve conveniently ignored @realDonaldTrump‘s call to reexamine tax dollars wasted overseas while so many Americans are struggling at home. Republicans will act to put America first. My full letter to @HouseGOP members:

“[B]y waiting days before Christmas, Speaker Pelosi tried to use the American people as leverage to make coronavirus relief contingent on government funding — which includes billions of foreign aid at a time when there are urgent needs at home,” McCarthy said in a letter to GOP lawmakers.

He added: “House Democrats appear to be suffering from selective hearing. They have conveniently ignored the concerns expressed by the President, and shared by our constituents, that we ought to reexamine how our tax dollars are spent overseas while so many of our neighbors at home are struggling to make ends meet. Thus, Republicans will offer a unanimous consent request to revisit the State and Foreign Operations title of the Omnibus so that we can fully address the concerns at hand.”

Pelosi’s office did not respond to a request for comment on McCarthy’s plans made Wednesday night.

TRUMP HEADS TO MAR-A-LAGO FOR CHRISTMAS WITH GOVERNMENT FUNDING, CORONAVIRUS RELIEF PACKAGE IN LIMBO

The floor stalemate Thursday leaves lawmakers and the president right where they were when Trump first released his Twitter video on the stimulus and spending Tuesday night.

Even if one or both of the unanimous-consent requests had passed the House, both would have highly uncertain prospects of succeeding in the GOP-controlled Senate.

In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The office for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not respond to a request for comment on McCarthy’s letter sent Wednesday night. It also did not respond to requests for comment on Pelosi’s request and Trump’s video asking for $2,000 checks.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., objected to an effort to make the checks in the just-passed stimulus bill $1,200 instead of $600, so it is nearly certain that he or another Senate Republican would have scuttled that unanimous consent request if it did make it to the Senate.

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The political maneuvering in the House comes as Trump, who departed D.C. for Mar-a-Lago Wednesday, is also bringing a government shutdown back into the equation by not signing the funding package. The government is currently operating on a one-week spending bill that was mean to keep the lights on just long enough for the president to sign the omnibus legislation that would fund the government for the next year.

Further, unemployment benefits for many Americans are set to run out the day after Christmas. Multiple other pandemic-related benefits, including an eviction moratorium, are set to run out before the end of the year. The House is set on Monday to revisit the interim spending bill to make it last into the new year, which could potentially avert a shutdown if the interim bill makes it through the Senate and the president agrees to sign it.

Trump on Tuesday did not issue an explicit veto threat on the spending and stimulus, so some are still hopeful that the president will sign the legislation as is. But he could also utilize a rare “pocket veto,” holding on to the legislation and refusing to act on it.

That would force Congress to essentially restart the legislative process on the stimulus and spending back at square one.

Fox News’ Megan Henny, Chad Pergram, and Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-showdown-trump-demands-stimulus-spending

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The post House GOP, Dems stymie requests to reconsider stimulus, spending package after Trump grievances first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.