[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (AP) – Americans faced the prospect of a government shutdown during a pandemic on Wednesday (Dec. 23) when outgoing President Donald Trump, angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, threatened not to sign a government funding of 2 , $ 3 trillion and a coronavirus relief package.
The package, which includes $ 892 billion for coronavirus crisis relief, ended months of negotiations between Republicans in Congress and Democrats.
It also pays for government operations through September 2021, so if Trump blocks it, much of the US government will start shutting down next week for lack of funds.
Trump, in a video posted on social media Tuesday night, surprised some of his closest officials by demanding that the bill be revised to include payments of $ 2,000 to every American, more than triple the amount of the U.S. $ 600 per person included in it.
A source familiar with the situation said attendees thought they had convinced Trump not to demand the $ 2,000 last week, only to learn that he had not given up when he posted the video. That surprised even his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who participated in the talks and endorsed the $ 600 figure.
Trump was upset when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in Congress, acknowledged Democrat Joe Biden’s loss to Trump last week in his November election race, another source said. Biden will take office on January 20.
READ: COVID-19 Relief Deal In Congress Slides Through Sunday As New Funding Deadline Approaches
LEE: The delay in Trump’s COVID bill leaves millions of desperate Americans in limbo
Trump did not explicitly say he would veto the measure, apparently in the hope that Congress would tweak a complex package that took months to negotiate. On Sunday, the White House said Trump would sign it into law.
In the video, Trump also demanded that the bill be stripped of foreign aid, which is included in all annual federal spending bills, and was requested by his own administration last year. He also opposed other government activities funded by the 5,500-page bill, such as fish farming and funding for Smithsonian museums.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill by wide bipartisan margins, and could return to Washington to override a veto if necessary.
DEMOCRATS SAY READY
Some Congressional Democrats, who had seen the aid package as too small a response to a crisis that has killed more than 320,000 Americans and put millions of people out of work, welcomed Trump’s move.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House could vote to increase those payments on Thursday if House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy agreed to do so.
“Mr. President, sign the bill to keep the government open! Urge McConnell and McCarthy to agree to the request for Democratic unanimous consent for direct payments of $ 2,000! This can be done before noon on Christma’s eve!” she responded to Trump on Twitter.
McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A veto would put Trump’s fellow Republicans in an awkward position. Many of them opposed the $ 2,000 payments that Trump is now demanding as too expensive, and they would have to challenge their party leader or change their position on those payments.
Current federal funding will expire Monday if Trump does not sign the bill. He is scheduled to leave for Florida on Wednesday afternoon for the Christmas holidays.
READ: New York City imposes quarantine for UK travelers and releases COVID-19 vaccine to paramedics
READ: Pfizer to supply the US with an additional 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
A funding lapse would put millions of federal workers out of work and shut down wide swaths of the US government.At a time when it is rushing to distribute two coronavirus vaccines and facing a massive attack that officials attribute to Russia, but that Moscow denies.
Trump has also vetoed a $ 740 billion defense policy bill, which has been passed every year since 1961.
Trump doesn’t like that bill because it would remove the names of generals who served the Confederacy in favor of slavery from military bases and because it doesn’t repeal liability, non-defense-related, protections for network companies. social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, which Trump considers hostile. conservatives like him.
The House plans to return Dec. 28 if Trump vetoes the defense policy bill. That is the same day that government funding expires.
In Georgia, where control of the U.S. Senate hinges on a pair of January 5 runoff elections, Democrats pressured sitting Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to say whether they agreed with Trump on that the $ 600 payments were too low. Neither campaign immediately responded to a request for comment.
Congress must suspend the session at the end of the year, which means that the bill will be automatically vetoed after 10 days, even if Trump takes no action, in what is known as a “pocket veto.”
Trump triggered a record 35-day government shutdown two years ago when he rejected a federal spending bill on what he said was insufficient funds to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
