Republicans are likely to block Democrats’ efforts to get the Senate to follow the House in increasing stimulus payments to $ 2,000 for most Americans, even though President Donald Trump backs the bigger checks.
Forty-four House Republicans joined 231 Democrats on Monday to pass a bill that increases payments from the $ 600 in pandemic relief legislation Trump signed on Sunday. His surprising demand last week for larger payments got Republicans in trouble after opposing anything over $ 600 during the lengthy negotiations on the original bill. Democrats quickly used that as a pressure point.
Photographer: Oliver Contreras / Bloomberg
“The House and the President agree: We must hand over $ 2,000 checks to American families struggling this holiday season,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a tweet, calling on the Senate to pass the higher payments.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has not said whether the Senate would take over the bill, try to vote on another bill that would also increase direct payments, or simply ignore the issue. Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said he will seek unanimous approval on Tuesday to pass the bill. But the move is expected to draw an objection from a Republican, effectively halting the effort.
Much depends on whether the president takes up the issue or uses it to attack Senate Republicans.
He has expressed anger at McConnell and other GOP leaders for failing to support his quixotic attempt to reverse the election results. With the issue of the $ 2,000 checks in the Senate, Trump could draw attention to them via social media and try to pressure Republicans to take action against the bill.
The Senate would likely need unanimous approval to vote on both a veto on the defense bill and the $ 2,000 checks bill before this session of Congress ends on Sunday. Getting that match is unlikely.
It may leave that to the government of President-elect Joe Biden, who has said he will seek an extra boost shortly after he was inaugurated on Jan. 20. But whether he will be given room to get additional relief through Congress will depend on the outcome of two second elections in Georgia on Jan. 5 that will determine control of the Senate. If Republicans kept just one of those seats, McConnell would remain the majority leader and be able to control the Senate’s agenda.
The House Bill cleared the room on a vote of 275 to 134. In addition to increasing the payment amounts and the income limit to receive a check, the legislation would increase the eligibility of household members to receive the money, making adult dependent dependents and children can receive payments. Currently, only children of adults below the income ceiling are eligible for the benefits.
The impartial Responsible Budget Committee estimates that the larger payments would increase disposable income by up to 25% above pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter. According to Marc Goldwein, an economist who co-authored the CRFB projections, the legislation would deliver 1.5% additional GDP output, but not all growth would occur in 2021.
But many Republicans were against stimulus payments higher than the $ 600 in the existing law, in part out of concern about the price tag. According to estimates by the staff of the Joint Tax Commission, suspending payments to $ 2,000 would cost about $ 463.8 billion.
“I’m afraid this whopping $ 463 billion won’t do whatever it takes, boost the economy or help workers get back to work,” said Representative Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, before the House vote. “It is difficult to stimulate the economy that is locked up by local politicians.”
Vote ‘No’
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey said on Sunday that he would vote against $ 2,000 checks, and Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, blocked an attempt to raise payments to $ 1,200 when pandemic relief legislation was discussed. During months of Covid-19 aid negotiations, Republicans fought against direct payments, insisting that $ 600 was the maximum they could support in this round of economic aid.
“Essentially what they believe is that the economy will repair itself,” said Steny Hoyer, majority leader of the house.
A vote against the increased payments would put Senate Republicans at odds with the leader of their party and against a politically popular idea in a week of Republicans trying to stay united in the run-up to Georgia.
In that race, Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both appealed to Republican incumbents, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, to raise stimulus payments to $ 2,000. Loeffler said she would consider the increase if offset by cuts elsewhere; Perdue has not taken a position publicly. If, as expected, Schumer is blocked from his request for unanimous consent, none of the senators will be forced to cast an official vote.
The emergency relief bill passed by Congress has already played a role in the games in Georgia. After Trump criticized the legislation and hinted at the prospect that he might veto it, Perdue lobbied the president in a Christmas Day phone call to sign it, worried that Trump’s delay could increase his and her chances. Loeffler in the second round.
Trump called $ 600 stimulus controls a “disgrace” and asked Congress to raise it to $ 2,000, while scrapping foreign aid and other unspecified “pork” from legislation that combines virus control with funding for government operations. After days of complaints, Trump capitulated Sunday night and signed the bill for more than $ 2.3 trillion.
In a statement accompanying his signing of the broader legislation, Trump said the Senate had approved the vote on the $ 2,000 checks, along with a measure to reform unrelated liability protections for technology companies and an investigation into alleged voter fraud. . McConnell has not made any public statements about such an agreement.
– Assisted by Laura Davison, Jennifer Jacobs and Nancy Cook