Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) turned aside a bid by Democrats to quickly approve sending Americans $2,000 stimulus payments, as proposed by President Trump, instead of the $600 already approved.
It seems a strange move for McConnell, who has been among Trump’s most stalwart allies in Congress. But the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impact on millions of Americans has changed things in Washington.
“The shifting Senate winds come a day after the House passed a bill to plus up stimulus checks with a bipartisan 275-134 vote,” reports the Washington Post. “That proposal … aims to boost the $600 payments authorized in the massive year-end spending-and-relief package that Trump signed Sunday by another $1,400.”
In a Senate speech on Tuesday, McConnell pointed to the fact that Trump has called not only for bigger checks, but also for limiting the power of big tech companies like Google and Facebook, and for an investigation into the November election that Trump lost to Joe Biden.
“Those are the three important subjects the President has linked together,” McConnell said. “This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the minority leader, then called for unanimous consent to boost the size of the checks; McConnell objected and that was that, for the time being.
But later Tuesday afternoon, Trump himself made it clear he considers the stimulus checks a matter separate from the other two items, Axios reported.
“Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve the $2000 payments ASAP,” the president tweeted.
McConnell’s decision to link all of Trump’s demands together “could doom any chance of passage,” reports the New York Times.
“While Democrats all support larger checks, they are unlikely to endorse a quick effort to repeal a legal shield for technology companies or an attempt to address the president’s baseless complaints of voter fraud,” the Times says.
A number of GOP senators have declared support for boosting the stimulus payments, including Georgia Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are in tight run-off races with Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock that will be decided by voters on Jan. 5.
“There’s a major difference in saying you support $2,000 checks and fighting to put them into law,” Schumer said Tuesday. “The House bill is the only way the only way to deliver these stimulus checks before the end of session.”
If Democrats win both Georgia run-offs, they’ll take control of the Senate when the new 117th Congress convenes, which would put the entire stimulus debate back on square one. That could come as soon as Jan. 6.
“As the Senate needs unanimous support to move quickly on most issues, any one senator can grind activity to a halt if they choose,” reports CNBC.
“If the full chamber considers the stimulus check legislation, all 48 Democrats and independents who caucus with them would likely vote for it. It would then need support from 12 of the Senate’s 52 Republicans.
