Covid Relief Package – House Passes $2,000 Stimulus Checks
The $900 billion COVID relief package that was eventually signed by President Trump over the weekend is ready to be dispersed, much to the relief of American citizens and small business owners. If the Democrats have their way, though, the $600 checks included in the relief package may increase to $2,000.
One of the reasons why Trump initially refused to sign the new bill was because he believed that the $600 stimulus checks were “a disgrace,” He called for the Senate to up the amount to $2,000 per person, a rallying call that the Democrats very quickly got behind. There was talk that the Dems were going to use an expedited procedure to approve that amount in the House, but that vote ended up being pushed back to Monday.
Because of the speedy nature of the vote, it required a two-thirds majority to pass and move on to the Senate. In what proved to be a close call, the bill passed by a count of 275-134. 273 votes were required for it to pass. This piece of political news is not quite over, though, as the bill will move to the Republican controlled Senate next.
What Can We Expect from the Senate?
When President Trump finally signed the bill on Sunday, he released a statement saying that he did so because of the impending vote to increase the stimulus checks to $2,000. With the bill now clearing the House, it is on the Senate to make the next move.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has hopes that the bill will go to a vote in the Senate on Tuesday, but he faces an uphill struggle to get it to pass. Schumer has called on the President to ask Republicans to get behind the $2,000 checks, as he believes that they currently don’t have the numbers on that side of the aisle to get the bill to pass.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the President for signing the bill, but he stopped short of saying anything about the proposed changes to the stimulus checks. While the President may be able to sway some Republicans to vote for the new bill that he supports, it is McConnell who has the ear of Republicans in Senate. He would make political news if he eventually supports the bill and gets the required number of Republicans to follow suit.
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