Newsman: House Democrats would vote on a standalone bill Monday for the direct payments to Americans of $2,000 a person. President Donald Trump called on congress to increased stimulus checks to $2000 dollars for Americans. President Trump criticized the bill as “disgrace” in a video posted to Twitter. House Democrats, who had advocated higher direct checks only to encounter Republican resistance in the Senate, immediately said they welcomed Trump’s support for sending out more money.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Thursday morning said “On Monday, I will bring the House back to session, where we will hold a recorded vote on our stand-alone bill to increase economic impact payments to $2,000. To vote against this bill is to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny them the relief they need.” “Hopefully, by then the president will have already signed the bipartisan and bicameral legislation to keep government open and to deliver coronavirus relief,” she said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, made the announcement moments after House Republicans blocked a Democratic bid to increase the payments as passed in the stimulus bill earlier this week from $600 a person to $2,000.
The House is adjourned until Monday afternoon, when members will also vote on whether to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the annual defense authorization bill.
After Trump’s comments, House Democrats rushed to schedule a vote to increase the payments as Trump demanded. The vote on the direct payments failed as latest episode of lawmakers’ attempts to pass a massive stimulus package to provide economic relief during the pandemic and the agonizing economic hardship.
The $900 billion relief package was passed by both chambers of Congress, included a new round of direct payments and help for jobless Americans, families and businesses struggling in the pandemic.
The legislation already passed by Congress includes two bills that were combined. One was the Covid-19 relief and stimulus bill, and the other was a large spending bill to fund the government through September.
Nancy Pelosi tweeted Thursday afternoon that the bill was being sent to Trump and urged him sign the bill.
After the vote on the direct payments failed, House Republicans made their own unanimous consent request to “revisit” the foreign aid part of the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package, a move the Democrats then blocked. Trump had railed against wasteful foreign spending in his comments this week, even though his own budget proposal had included the provisions he singled out for criticism.
