WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has dismissed his objections and signed a COVID-19 plus $ 2 trillion plus annual federal spending package provide relief to millions of Americans, even as Congress returns to confront the White House with remaining priorities in a rare showdown at the end of the session.
Trump appears to have accomplished little or nothing since the days of drama over his refusal to accept the sweeping bipartisan deal. While the president is calling for a bigger $ 2,000 pandemic checks seem destined to fail, his push presented a political opportunity for the Democrats, who support the larger stipends and force Trump’s Republican allies into a dire situation.
On Monday, the Democratic-led House will vote to increase payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000, and send a new bill to the Senate. There, the Republicans have the majority, but they reject more spending and are likely to beat the effort.
The showdown offers more symbol than substance, and the massive package that Trump reluctantly signed into law late Sunday after golfing at his Florida club is not expected to change. The $ 900 billion in COVID aid and $ 1.4 trillion to fund the government Agencies will deliver long-sought cash to companies and individuals and prevent a federal government shutdown that would otherwise have begun Tuesday.
Along with Monday and Tuesday votes to override Trump’s veto on sweeping defense law, the move may be the final deadlock in the president’s office in recent days as he sets new demands and disputes the results of the presidential election . The new convention will be sworn in on Sunday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Took hold of the rift between the president and his party and urged Trump to put pressure on his Senate-GOP allies to pass the bill.
“The president must immediately call on Republicans in Congress to end their obstruction and join him and the Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $ 2000 Pelosi said in a tweet.
Trump’s sudden decision to sign the bill came as he faced escalating criticism from lawmakers on all sides for his eleventh-hour demands. The bipartisan bill negotiated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was well past the House and Senate. Lawmakers had thought they had Trump’s blessing after months of negotiations with his administration.
The president’s defiant refusal to act, published with a heated video he tweeted just before the Christmas holidays, sparked chaos, the lapse of millions of unemployment benefits and the threat of government shutdown amid a pandemic. It was another crisis of his own origin, which was resolved when he finally signed the law.
In his statement on the signing, Trump reiterated his frustrations with the COVID-19 emergency bill for providing only $ 600 checks to most Americans and complained about what he considered unnecessary expenditure, particularly on foreign aid.
While the president has insisted that he send Congress “a redefined version” of editions he wants to be removed, those are just suggestions to Congress. The bill, as signed, does not necessarily need to be amended.
Democrats, who hold the majority in Parliament, “will reject any resignation filed by the president,” said Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, Chairman of the Credit Committee.
For now, the administration cannot begin sending the $ 600 payments.
Alabama Republican Representative Mo Brooks, a Conservative who backed Trump’s extraordinary and meaningless challenge to the election results, counted himself on Monday among opponents of a more generous aid package and Trump’s call for higher payments.
“It’s money we don’t have, we have to borrow to get it and we can’t afford to pay it back,” he said of “Fox and Friends.”
But Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York said she was open to the idea of $ 2,000 checks. “Many Americans are in dire need of relief,” she said on the show.
All in all, both Republicans and Democrats welcomed Trump’s decision to sign the bill into law.
“The compromise bill is not perfect, but it will do a tremendous amount of good for the struggling Kentuckians and Americans across the country who now need help,” said Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “I thank the president for signing this relief into law.”
Others criticized Trump’s delay in enacting the bill. In a tweet, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. Trump believes that “playing Russian roulette with American lives. A familiar and comfortable place for him.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said he would offer Trump’s proposal for $ 2,000 checks for a Senate vote, bringing Republicans to the scene.
“The House will pass a bill to give Americans $ 2,000 checks,” Schumer tweeted. “Then I’ll move to pass it in the Senate.” He said no Democrats will object. “Will Senate Republicans?”
Democrats promise more aid will come as soon as President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Republicans are signaling a wait-and-see attitude.
In the face of growing economic hardship, the spread of disease, and an impending shutdown, lawmakers on Sunday urged Trump to sign the legislation immediately, and then have Congress succeed with additional help. Aside from unemployment benefits and family aid payments, money was at stake for the distribution of vaccines, businesses and more. Protection against evictions was also at stake.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey said he understood Trump “wants to be remembered for calling for big checks, but the danger is he will be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he lets it go.”
Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger from Illinois said too much is at stake for Trump to “play this old switcheroo game.”
“I don’t get it,” he said. “I don’t understand what is being done, why, unless it’s just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election.”
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Colvin reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.