$2K checks fading fast: To give GOP senators a way out, Mcconnell proposes an alternative likely to fail.
Mcconnell’s alternative seems certain to fail
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks was all but dead Wednesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell proposed an alternative approach of loading up the bill with other White House priorities that appeared destined to fail.
The roadblock mounted by Senate Republicans appears insurmountable, even as pressure builds to approve the bigger checks. Trump wants the Republican-led chamber to follow the House and increase the checks from $600 for millions of Americans. A growing number of Republicans, including two senators in runoff elections on Jan. 5 in Georgia, agree. But most GOP senators oppose more spending, even if they are also wary of bucking Trump.
Mcconnell blocked a vote Tuesday, but his new bill – which includes the formation of a commission to investigate the 2020 election as well as a complicated repeal of big tech liability protections – does not have enough support to pass.
It’s highly likely that Mcconnell will set up votes ahead on both the Housepassed measure supporting Trump’s $2,000 checks as well as his own new version, as a way to give senators a chance to show they took action.
That’s a process that almost ensures neither bill will pass.
“What we’re seeing right now is Leader Mcconnell trying to kill the checks – the $2,000 checks desperately needed by so many American families,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at the Capitol.
The showdown over the $2,000 checks has thrown Congress into a chaotic year-end session just days before new lawmakers are set to be sworn into office for the new year.
Trump has berated Republican leaders for the stonewalling, finding rare common cause with the Democrats pushing them to act. Leading Republicans warned that the GOP’S refusal to provide more aid as the virus worsens will jeopardize next week’s Senate election in Georgia.
“The Senate Republicans risk throwing away two seats and control of the Senate,” said Newt Gingrich, the former congressional leader, on Fox News. He called on Senate Republicans to “get a grip and not try to play cute parliamentary games with the president’s $2,000 payment.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “These Republicans in the Senate seem to have an endless tolerance for other people’s sadness.”
Republicans are split between those who align with Trump’s populist instincts and those who adhere to what had been more traditional conservative views against government spending.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said some of the $600 payments were being sent by direct deposit to Americans’ bank accounts as early as Tuesday night. Mnuchin tweeted that paper checks would begin to go out Wednesday.