In his last weeks, President Trump is urging Congress to include another set of stimulus checks to Americans inside the next COVID-19 relief package. Trump mentioned to Brian Kilmeade, Fox News, that he wants more stimulus checks containing more money to get approved. Trump stated in the Sunday morning interview that he is pushing this agenda very hard and if the Democrats wanted to complete this deal, they would have done it.
Negotiations On Stimulus Checks
After many inconclusive and stalemate discussions for months, Congress has resumed the relief talks. They have turned to the bipartisan package of $908 billion which doesn’t include stimulus. The House passed the package of $2.2 trillion in October. It was struck down by Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader, Senate who proposed a bill worth $500 million. Then the discussions halted as Democrats couldn’t accept the downsize and the Republicans resumed budging higher. Congress recently approved one round of payments during May by giving $1200 each to Americans due to their financial difficulties due to the pandemic. Since then, numerous signs like a decrease in spending on groceries have suggested that people need more cash.
With President-elect Biden taking office on 20th January, it seems unclear whether Congress will pass this $908 billion bill before January 20. The bill was finalized as a sacrifice between both the parties. But Mitch McConnell and other Republican lawmakers are indicating that they do not want this package. Mitch McConnell said that Trump will not sign off on a package like this. Making law doesn’t only require the approval of the Senate but also the President’s signature. He is pretty sure that his trimmed down version of this $908 billion bill will easily go through. Two senators have joined Trump’s pleas to the Congress. Bernie Sanders, independent senator, and Josh Hawley, Republican senator is urging Congress to allocate money for giving $1200 stimulus checks to the Americans.
