President suggests he might not sign COVID relief bill
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday night asked Congress to amend the nearly $900 billion stimulus and spending bill passed by the Senate just one day before, describing the groundbreaking legislation as “a disgrace” and suggesting he would not immediately sign off on aid for millions of Americans.
In a video posted to Twitter, Mr. Trump called on Congress to increase the “ridiculously low” $600 stimulus checks to $2,000, and outlined a list of provisions in the final legislation that he described as “wasteful spending and much more.” He did not mention that the $600 stimulus check idea came from his own Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin.
“I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation, and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver
a COVID relief package, and maybe that administration will be me,” Mr. Trump said.
The Senate cleared the package by a 92-6 vote after the House approved it by another lopsided vote, 359-53. Those votes totals would be enough to override a veto should Mr. Trump decide to take that step.
Mr. Trump’s aides had made positive comments about the bill, but Mr. Trump had largely stayed out of negotiations. Last week, he had complained to some aides that he thought the $600 stimulus checks were too low and wanted them raised to $1,200 or $ 2,000, but aides had convinced him not to intervene, saying it could scuttle the whole package.
Some aides were stunned that Mr. Trump weighed in the way he did after his economic team had publicly praised the bill.
But administration officials had negotiated the bill with lawmakers in the final days without explicitly securing Mr. Trump’s approval, aides said. He had largely been distracted with overturning the results of the presidential election.
Mr. Trump had long wanted to do more than $600 in checks and kept asking aides why they couldn’t agree to a bigger number, an official said.
He released the video on Tuesday after a number of his aides, including Mark Meadows, were already out of town.
“So dumb,” one administration official said. “So, so dumb.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., however, quickly responded to the Twitter post by saying congressional Democrats would enthusiastically return to the Capitol on Thursday and seek to advance a bill that adds the $2,000 stimulus checks.
“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks,” she posted on Twitter on Tuesday night after Mr. Trump’s message. “At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!”
As the coronavirus pandemic began to move rapidly through the United States in March, Congress passed a massive $2.2 trillion spending bill to try to limit the economic impact. Many of that law’s measures expired over the course of the year, and the recent spike in new cases — and the end of the November election — sparked a bipartisan coalition to seek a new bill.
The measure that passed Congress on Monday night included $900 billion in new assistance and a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.
Mr. Trump’s top economic advisers had not signaled that he was unhappy with the
bill. In fact, they had suggested they were quite happy with the way the package came together.
“I am pleased that Congress has passed on an overwhelming bipartisan basis additional critical economic relief for American workers, families and businesses,” Mr. Mnuchin tweeted seven hours before Mr. Trump’s video was posted.
But not all aides were supportive of the measure, though some kept their criticisms closely held.
Aides who dislike the bill particularly used the fact that some of its unrelated spending provisions included foreign aid as a way to turn Mr. Trump against the measure, knowing there are few things he hates more than American money going to other countries.
After months of partisanship and politicking about a relief package, the logjam broke after President-elect Joe Biden urged his party to accept a compromise with top Republicans that is smaller than many Democrats would have liked.
The House and Senate passed the bill with such large margins that they could likely override a veto.