GOP Block Effort By Trump and Democrats To Increase Stimulus Check To $2,000
Republicans in the House of Representatives on Thursday blocked an attempt from House Democrats to approve a plan to send $2,000 direct payments to Americans, according to CNBC. The plan was first suggested by President Trump.
In a tweet, President Trump called the $900 billion relief package, which included $600 stimulus checks, a “disgrace,” suggesting that the checks should be for $2,000. He was also unhappy with the package’s plan to send a huge amount of financial aid to other countries, as well as millions in funding for the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institute.
“I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump said in the video.
In an odd twist, the Democrats agreed with the President, and called for the checks to be increased to $2,000 after Trump’s tweet. The House of Representatives aimed to pass the $2,000 stimulus check during a pro forma session.
“Today, on Christmas Eve morning, House Republicans cruelly deprived the American people of the $2,000 that the President agreed to support,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “If the President is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction.”
House Democrats plan to try to vote on legislation increasing the $600 per person check approved in the aid package to $2,000 on Monday.
