BAH HUMBUG!
‘Scrooge’ McConnell blocks move to bump stimulus aid to $2,000
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked efforts Tuesday to raise the amount of a forthcoming round of coronavirus stimulus checks to $2,000 from $600 — drawing the ire of President Trump, who’s finding unusual common ground with Democrats in pushing for the larger payouts.
McConnell, the top Republican in Congress and usually one of Trump’s most trusted allies, objected first to a request from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to immediately approve a House-passed proposal that would bankroll $2,000 checks to taxpayers earning less than $75,000 per year.
The Kentucky Republican then blocked a separate motion from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asking for a full Senate vote Wednesday on the $2,000 check proposal.
Without making any absolute commitments, McConnell said he would instead allow for the Senate to “begin a process” by which it could bring the $2,000 checks “into focus” along with another Trump demand, a repeal of the Section 230 legal protections for social-media companies.
Trump — who’s already furious with McConnell for not doing more to overturn the election he lost to Joe Biden — did not appear pleased.
“Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2000 payments ASAP,” Trump tweeted from Florida, where he’s spending the holidays tweeting and golfing at his private club. “$600 IS NOT ENOUGH! Also, get rid of Section 230 — Don’t let Big Tech steal our Country ... Get tough!”
At issue in the head-spinning battle over stimulus checks is the $908 billion coronavirus economic relief package that Trump signed Sunday.
The package funds $600 checks, and those payments are likely to start rolling out as early as next week along with other relief like beefed-up unemployment benefits and small-business aid.
However, before signing the relief bill, Trump threatened for nearly a week to veto it because, he suddenly said, he wanted it to include $2,000 checks — even though McConnell and other GOP negotiators, including Trump’s own treasury secretary, maintained for months that such payouts would be too costly.
Democrats, who have long favored four-figure stimulus checks, are seizing on Trump’s last-minute change of heart, forcing Congress to remain in session through the usually calm holiday week.
The bill referenced by Schumer, which passed the House on Monday, would tweak
language in the legislation so that $2,000 checks are issued rather than ones for $600.
Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, noted that dozens of Republicans in both chambers are supporting the larger payment in light of Trump’s newfound position.
“Even in our deeply divided times, this issue has united Americans from coastto-coast and bridged the massive political divide here in Washington,” Schumer said before McConnell blocked his request for a fast-track vote. “There’s one question left today: Do Senate Republicans support $2,000 checks?”
At least five GOP senators, including McConnell allies Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, have flip-flopped in recent days and say they back the $2,000 checks.
In the House, 44 Republicans voted for the larger sum, and the proposal is also supported by Biden.
The push for $2,000 checks would need the support of at least 60 senators to make it to Trump’s desk for a final signature.
Sanders, speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s session, said he’s confident there’s enough support for that to happen — but McConnell ultimately needs to give his blessing for the measure to be given a vote.
“Trump wants it, Biden wants it, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi wants it, Schumer wants it. Let’s have a vote, and let’s pass this damn thing,” Sanders said.
McConnell, who represents a broad flank of the GOP that claims to espouse fiscally conservative views, has staunchly opposed spending more than the $908 billion earmarked by the current stimulus bill.
Trump’s push for more spending is putting McConnell and other Republicans in an uncomfortable position where they either have to upset the president or break with their ideological beliefs.
Meantime, McConnell’s suggestion to potentially bundle the $2,000 checks with a Section 230 repeal likely won’t go over well with Democrats.
Complicating matters further for Republicans is Trump’s veto of the annual defense spending bill.
Trump vetoed the $741 billion Pentagon bill because he wanted it to repeal Section 230 protections in apparent retaliation for Twitter and Facebook fact-checking his false tweets about the election.
The House voted to override that controversial veto Monday, and McConnell said he’s looking to do the same in his chamber Wednesday because he opposes the idea of using the defense bill to do Trump’s dirty work on Section 230.
But Sanders is playing hardball by pledging to block the veto override until McConnell clears the way for a vote on the $2,000 check proposal. That stalemate could force senators to forgo their vacations altogether and stay in Washington through the new year.