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WASHINGTON / PALM BEACH, FLORIDA (REUTERS) – The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted 275-134 to meet President Donald Trump’s demand for Covid-19 relief checks of $ 2,000 (S $ 2,656 ) on Monday (December 28), sending the measure. in an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Republican Trump threatened last week to block a huge pandemic aid and spending package if Congress did not increase stimulus payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 and cut other spending.
He retracted his demands on Sunday (December 27) as a possible government shutdown loomed, sparked by the fight with lawmakers.
But Democratic lawmakers have long wanted relief checks of $ 2,000 and used the rare point of agreement with Trump to advance the proposal, or at least to turn Republicans against it, in Monday’s vote, less one month before I leave office.
Even as Democrats helped secure passage of what Trump wanted about stimulus payments, they soon led a more strongly bipartisan House vote to override his veto of a $ 740,000 defense policy bill. millions. He marked a reprimand in his final weeks in office, and if the Senate agrees this week, it would be the first override of his presidency’s veto.
HELP PACKAGE FOR EXPENSES AND CORONAVIRUS
The 275 votes for passage meant the stimulus proposal narrowly exceeded two-thirds of the votes cast needed.
A total of 130 Republicans, two independents and two Democrats opposed the increased controls on Monday.
Trump, who lost the November election to Democratic challenger Joe Biden but has refused to admit defeat, finally signed the $ 2.3 trillion package into law after delaying it with a veiled veto threat. But he kept demanding checks for $ 2,000.
The $ 2.3 trillion includes $ 1.4 trillion in spending to fund government agencies and $ 892 billion in Covid-19 relief. It’s unclear how the measure will fare to increase aid controls in the Senate, where individual Republican lawmakers have complained that the higher amount would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the latest aid bill.
The increase in checks would cost $ 464 billion, according to the Joint Tax Committee, which prepares cost estimates for the legislation before Congress.
The Senate will meet on Tuesday (December 31).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made no mention Sunday of the Senate’s plans for a vote, after welcoming Trump’s signing of the aid bill.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 330,000 people in the United States and led to widespread economic hardship, with millions of families relying on unemployment benefits and Covid-19 relief funds.
Global markets perked up after Trump approved the package. Major Wall Street indices hit record highs Monday as Trump’s signing of the aid bill bolstered bets on an economic recovery and boosted gains in financial and energy stocks.
ANNULA VETO HOUSE
Also in the hands of the Senate, for a vote expected this week, will be whether to override Trump’s veto on the defense bill. In Monday’s House vote 322-87, which reached the required two-thirds majority, only 66 Republicans supported Trump’s rejection of the bipartisan bill, underscoring deep divisions in the Republican Party.
Trump, who is angry that some Republicans have acknowledged his loss to Biden, vetoed the defense bill last Wednesday (December 23).
He said he turned it down because he wanted it to revoke liability protections for social media companies not related to national security, and he opposed a provision to rename military bases after generals who fought for the Confederacy pro slavery during the Civil War.
PELOSI: ‘REPUBLICANS HAVE A CHOICE’
When asked at the end of an event in Wilmington, Delaware, if he supported expanding coronavirus payments to $ 2,000, Biden replied, “Yes.”
Georgia Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, facing a crucial runoff in the Senate next month that could determine who controls the chamber, welcomed Trump’s measure, without saying whether payments should be increased.
As the floor debate unfolded, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “Republicans can choose, vote for this legislation, or vote to deny the American people the bigger wages they need.”
And US Democratic Representative Dan Kildee said: “We would have included much higher payments in the legislation if he (Trump) had spoken earlier. But it is never too late to do the right thing. ”
But Republican Rep. Kevin Brady said the bill doesn’t help people get back to work. “I’m concerned that since we spent another half a billion dollars so hastily, we are not directing this aid to the Americans who struggle the most and need that help,” he said.
The US Treasury Department plans to send the first wave of $ 600 stimulus checks to US individuals and households starting this week, as scheduled, a senior Treasury official said Monday.
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