WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump threatens to curb Congress’s massive COVID aid and government funding package, forcing Republicans, who have traditionally been wary of such spending, to an uncomfortable test of allegiance.
On Thursday, House Democrats, who also prefer $ 2,000 checks, will almost challenge Republicans to break with Trump and call for his proposal for a Christmas Eve vote. The president’s last-minute objection could derail critical legislation amid a raging pandemic and deep economic uncertainty. His attacks risk shutting down the federal government early next week.
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” house speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday.
“The whole country knows that it is urgent for the president to sign this bill, both to alleviate the coronavirus and to keep the government open.”
Republicans led by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, have opposed $ 2,000 checks as being too expensive. House Republicans are expected to block the vote, but Democrats can try again on Monday.
The president’s last-minute objections set up a decisive showdown with his own Republican Party in his last days in office.
Rather than taking the victory of the sweeping aid package, one of the largest in history, Trump is lashing out at GOP leaders over the presidential election – for recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect and rejecting his campaign for the the results of the Electoral College when they are. counted in Congress on January 6.
The president’s pressure to increase direct payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 for individuals and $ 4,000 for couples for most Americans divides the party with a politically painful loyalty test, including for GOP Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who fight to maintain their seat in January 5th. special elections in Georgia.
Republican lawmakers traditionally deny major spending, and many have never fully embraced Trump’s populist approach. Their political DNA says they should oppose a more expensive aid package. But now they are asked to stand next to the president.
GOP leaders were mostly quiet on Wednesday, and neither McConnell nor Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House’s minority leader, spoke publicly.
During a conference call, House Republican lawmakers complained that Trump threw them under the bus, according to one Republican during the private call, and granted anonymity to talk about it. Most had voted in favor of the package, and they urged leaders to go to the cable news shows to explain its benefits, the person said.
McCarthy later sent a letter to colleagues suggesting that Republicans make their own proposal, taking on Trump’s own complaints about foreign aid to “re-examine how our tax dollars are being spent abroad.”
Democrats took advantage of the Republican disarray to press for a priority. Jon Ossoff, Perdue’s Democratic opponent, simply tweeted Tuesday night, “Checks for $ 2,000 now.”
When Congress left town for the holidays, the year-end package was part of a hard-won compromise, a massive 5,000-page bill containing the COVID aid and $ 1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and others. priorities.
The bill criticizing Trump would bring in a temporary supplemental allowance of $ 300 a week, along with a new round of grants for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters, and money for schools, caregivers and tenants who are evicted.
Although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin represented the White House during the negotiations, Trump attacked the bipartisan effort in a video he tweeted on Tuesday evening, suggesting he might not sign the legislation.
Trump opposed a series of provisions in the broader government funding package, including the foreign aid pillars that are included each year, calling the bill a “ disgrace. ”
Trump has not vowed specifically to use his veto, and if he does, there may be enough support in Congress to push him aside. But the consequences would be dire if Trump turned the legislation upside down. It wouldn’t mean federal help for struggling Americans and small businesses, and no additional resources to assist with vaccine distribution. To top it all off, as lawmakers linked the pandemic bill with an overarching funding measure, the government was set to shut down on Dec. 29.
The final text of the more than 5,000-page bill was still in preparation by Congress and was not expected to be sent to the White House for Trump’s signature by Thursday or Friday, an assistant said.
That complicates the upcoming schedule. If Trump vetoes the package, or lets it lapse with a ‘pocket veto’ at the end of the year, Americans will do without massive amounts of COVID assistance.
A resolution can be enforced on Monday. That’s when an emergency funding bill that Congress passed to keep the government funded while the paperwork was being drafted expires, threatening federal shutdown.
Democrats are considering another emergency measure to keep the government going at least until Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, according to two aides who granted anonymity to discuss the private talks.
The House was already set to return Monday, and the Senate Tuesday, for a vote to override Trump’s veto on the defense law. Democrats at the time could try again to approve Trump’s proposal for $ 2,000 checks, as well as the government’s temporary funding measure to avoid a shutdown, the aides said.
The push for bigger payments to Americans had a rare common cause between Trump and some of the most liberal members of Congress. Pelosi and the Democrats said they fought for the higher stipends during protracted negotiations to settle on the lower number when the Republicans declined.
Pelosi will present the president’s proposal on Thursday under a procedure where only one legislator can object to its consideration. It will be pushed forward during a so-called pro forma session, where few legislators are expected to attend. McCarthy and the Republicans are ready to object.
Republicans were reluctant to spend more on pandemic aid and only agreed to the grand year-end package when the time for a final deal diminished. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic leader, said “Trump should sign the bill to help people and keep the government open,” and Congress would want more help afterward.
The Senate approved the massive aid package by 92-6 votes after the House approved it against 359-53. Those vote totals would be enough to override a veto if Trump decided to take that step.
Biden applauded lawmakers for their work. He described the package as far from perfect, “but it does provide essential relief at a critical time.”
He also said more help would be needed in the coming months.