House Republicans have soundly rejected an effort by Democrats to provide $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans days after President Donald Trump floated the idea and threatened not to sign legislation that approved only $600 for coronavirus relief.
On Thursday morning, Democrats attempted to pass the relief measure by unanimous consent but Republicans refused to accept the amendment.
Trump assailed the bipartisan $900 billion package in a video he tweeted out Tuesday night and told lawmakers to “get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately agreed with the president that the second round of direct payments to millions of Americans should be higher.
She announced Thursday that Democrats will next try to pass the bill in a full vote on the House floor December 28, according to reports.
“Hopefully by then the president will have already signed the bipartisan and bicameral legislation to keep government open and to deliver coronavirus relief,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Earlier this week Congress passed the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill which included the $600 payouts that are capped for people with higher incomes. The legislation is attached to a spending bill that funds the federal government and faces a critical Monday deadline.
After the bill landed in the Oval Office, Trump threatened not to sign it unless Congress raised the amount of the checks to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples.
“If the President is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction,” Pelosi said.
Trump did not specifically vow to veto the bill, and there may be enough support for the legislation in Congress to override him if he does. But if Trump were to upend the sprawling legislation, the consequences would be severe, including no federal aid to struggling Americans and small businesses, and no additional resources to help with vaccine distribution. In addition, because lawmakers linked the pandemic relief bill to an overarching funding measure, the government would shut down on Dec. 29.
In other action Thursday, Republicans failed after proposing to eliminate a provision of the spending package that included aid to foreign countries, which Trump has publicly assailed despite it being listed in his official budget requests.
This is a developing story. Please stay with AJC.com for the latest details. Information provided by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
