Trump’s sudden demands and his refusal to sign a key bill could shut down the US government on Monday.

DONALD TRUMP’s sudden demand for checks of $ 2,000 (€ 1,640) for most Americans has been rebuffed by House Republicans as his serendipitous actions throw a massive aid and funding bill into chaos. of the Covid 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 smaller checks of $ 600 (491 euros), are at risk.

Trump’s refusal of the $ 900 billion (€ 737 billion) package, which is tied to a $ 1.4 trillion (€ 1.15 trillion) government funding bill, could lead to a federal shutdown. at midnight on 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.

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 in the House and the 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 were 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.”

Racing to save the 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 record 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.