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The US House of Representatives was poised to approve an increase in stimulus payments to most Americans, in a vote to increase the impact of the $ 900 billion (€ 737 billion) financial aid package. of this month.
The move in the lower house of Congress, which is controlled by Democrats, coincides with the push for bigger checks made in recent days by Donald Trump, the outgoing US president, who kept the fate of the entire bill. in limbo for days during the Christmas holidays. until he signed it on Sunday.
If it gets the green light in the House, increasing direct payments from $ 600 per person to $ 2,000 will put pressure on Republicans in the Senate to drop their resistance to bigger checks and a bigger stimulus package.
The battle on Capitol Hill for the biggest checks has significant ramifications for the world’s largest economy, as the largest government payments will drive up revenue and consumption in the first quarter of 2021.
Economists have welcomed the remainder of the package to include aid to small businesses and expand unemployment benefits. But larger direct payments to households will further support the recovery at a time when the rise of the winter coronavirus is hitting the job market.
“This relief is crucial for millions of families,” Richard Neal, the Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, wrote in a tweet Monday morning.
Political implications
The fight could also have big political implications, ahead of two Senate second-round races in Georgia that will determine control of the upper house of Congress in the first two years of Joe Biden’s administration.
Democrats have argued that if they can win back the Senate, they will be able to pass more household stimulus and implement more of Biden’s economic agenda, which includes large-scale public spending partially funded by higher taxes on businesses and the wealthy.
But it is far from clear that Mitch McConnell, the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, will grant higher direct payments, despite pressure from both Democrats and the White House.
While some Republican senators, like Josh Hawley of Missouri and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have embraced the idea of $ 2,000 checks, others like Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania are opposed.
“I don’t agree with $ 2,000 for people who have not lost income at all, which is the vast majority of Americans, but the president is free to defend it,” Toomey said on Fox News Sunday.
Trump finally signed the bill to release $ 900 billion in stimulus spending for the coronavirus and the federal government’s broader $ 2.3 trillion budget on Sunday night, after he rated it earlier in the week. of “shame” and demanded changes. In the end, no changes were made.
Defense financing
The tension over stimulus payments has intersected with another budget battle in Washington over the $ 740 billion annual defense funding bill, which Trump vetoed last week in another showdown with members of Congress.
In a separate vote on Monday, the House was expected to vote to override Trump’s veto with a large majority of lawmakers. But some Republican senators, including Graham, a close Trump ally, said they would vote to override only if Democrats agreed to the president’s demand to repeal legislation that protects internet platforms from liability for online content.
The so-called “section 230” legal shield for tech companies has become a primary target of conservative lawmakers and Trump in recent months as they accused Silicon Valley of political bias against them in the campaign. this year. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020
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