The Republican minority in the House of Representatives on Thursday blocked an attempt by the Democrats to change the emergency plan that both parties and have been vetoed by President Donald Trump, who demanded an increase in aid.
After months of negotiations, the Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, and the
Republicans, who dominate the Senate, Monday agreed a package of $ 900 billion to give oxygen to an economy devastated by the crisis caused by Covid-19, which has destroyed millions of jobs.
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The deal was reached at a pivotal moment, before December 26, when a series of extraordinary aid agreed in an aid package approved at the start of the pandemic ended. causing many households to be without income.
On Tuesday evening, Trump surprised lawmakers by rejecting the agreement reached, including an extraordinary $ 600 help for those in trouble, and demand that it be increased to 2,000 per person.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, tried unanimously on Thursday to approve an increase in aid to $ 2,000, but the
Republicans blocked the initiative. “Today, on Christmas Eve, the
House Republicans cruelly robbed Americans of the $ 2,000 the president wanted to support, ”Pelosi said.
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Today, on Christmas Eve, is the
House Republicans cruelly robbed Americans of the $ 2,000 the president wanted to support
The Democratic leader noted that if Trump takes his proposal seriously, he should urge Republicans to stop the “ obstruction. ” Pelosi later reported that she had sent the bill passed Monday to Trump, asking him to sign it.
At the heart of the issue is the possibility that the president will not exercise the right of veto, but simply leave the deadline to sign, pushing the law into the next parliamentary term, which begins January 3.
Meanwhile, during Thursday’s session, Republicans tried to change the amount of foreign aid in the budget package – another demand from Trump – and the opposition responded by blocking this proposal.
Faced with this maneuver, the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives accused Democrats of suffering from “selective hearing” problems. The session was thus suspended and the House will not meet until Monday 28 December.
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Donald Trump had called the aid plan a “disgrace.”
Serious consequences
Both sides face extraordinary elections in Georgia, on Jan. 5, which will determine two seats in the Senate and who will determine who controls the House.
With no time to maneuver, with an economy where layoffs are piling up as a result of the uncontrolled advance of Covid-19 it is not clear what the next step for Congress or the executive will be a few days before the next parliamentary term starts on January 3 and less than a month after Democrat Joe Biden arrives at the White House.
About 14 million unemployed Americans will use up their benefits this weekend, which will also end a moratorium on deportations in the middle of the boreal winter.
Lawmakers are also facing the threat that if the budget package is not approved, the government will run out of funding next Monday afternoon, a funding paralysis that could force the government to shut down operations and put its officials on leave without pay. .
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This shutdown comes at a time when the pandemic, which is killing more than 326,200 in the United States, more than any other country, continues on the eve of the end of the year holidays. in which many movements and an increase in infections are expected.
This wouldn’t be the first time in the Trump administration that negotiations with Congress have resulted in budget paralysis. since early 2019, a struggle with Congress for its determination to raise funds for the construction of a wall on the Mexican border led to a shutdown that lasted more than a month.
Despite the threat from the US economy, the New York Stock Exchange closed higher due to expectations generated by the start of the country’s covid-19 vaccination.
AFP
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