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Donald Trump’s sudden demand for checks of $ 2,000 for most Americans has been rebuffed by House Republicans, as his serendipitous actions throw massive Covid relief and a Covid funding bill into chaos. government.
The rare Christmas Eve session of the House lasted just a few minutes, with the help of millions of Americans waiting for Trump’s signature on the bill.
Unemployment benefits, eviction protections and other emergency assistance, including checks smaller than $ 600, are at risk.
Trump’s refusal of the $ 900 billion package, which is tied to a $ 1.4 trillion government funding bill, could trigger a federal shutdown at midnight Monday.
“We are not going to let the government shut down, nor are we going to disappoint the American people,” said Democrat Steny Hoyer, the Majority Leader.
The optics look dire for Republicans and the outgoing president, as the nation experiences the worst Christmas season that many can remember.
Families are isolated under Covid-19 precautions and millions of American households are devastated without adequate income, food or shelter. The death toll from viruses of more than 327,000 is increasing.
Trump is ending his presidency the way he started it: sowing confusion and revoking promises while the election is contested and courting a federal shutdown over demands that his own party in Congress will not comply with.
Republican leaders in Congress have been rendered almost speechless by Trump’s scorching end-of-year job.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy helped negotiate the end-of-year deal, a cherished bipartisan compromise, which garnered broad approval this week at the House and Senate after the White House assured Republican leaders that Trump supported him.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin boasted that the $ 600 checks that all parties had agreed to for Americans would be in the mail within a week.
Instead, Washington is now hurtling into a crisis with the help of collapsing Covid, as the president is at his Mar-a-Lago club.
He has been attacking Republican leaders for refusing to join his efforts to overturn the election that Joe Biden won when Electoral College votes are tallied in Congress on January 6.
“The best way out of this is for the president to sign the bill,” Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri said Thursday. “And I still hope that’s what he decides.”
In a race to save year-end legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mnuchin are in talks about options.
Democrats will call House lawmakers in Washington to vote Monday on Trump’s proposal, with a roll call vote that would show that all members support or reject the $ 2,000 checks.
They are also considering a vote Monday on an interim measure to at least avoid a federal shutdown.
It would keep the government running until Biden takes office on January 20. Lawmakers will also be asked to override Trump’s veto on a defense bill.
After presiding over the brief House session, Democrat Debbie Dingell condemned the possibility of Covid’s assistance collapsing.
“It is Christmas Eve, but it is not a silent night. Not everything is calm. For many, nothing is brilliant, ”he said on Capitol Hill.
A town hall that hosted the night before “had people crying, people terrified of what is going to happen,” he said.
A father recently told him that he had to tell his children that there would be no Santa Claus this year.
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