On Tuesday night, Trump urged lawmakers to make a number of changes to the COVID-19 relief measure, including bigger direct payments to individuals and families.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, agreed with his call for $2,000 payments.
“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!” , said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Late Tuesday night Senator Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), both tweeted in support of Trump’s request. (I never thought those names could be in the same sentence while agreeing)
AOC said, “Let’s do it. @RashidaTlaib and I already co-wrote the COVID amendment for $2,000 checks, so it’s ready to go. Glad to see the President is willing to support our legislation. We can pass $2k checks this week if the Senate GOP agrees to stand down.”
Schumer agreed and tossed it to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, “I’m in. Whaddya say, Mitch? Let’s not get bogged down with ideological offsets and unrelated items and just DO THIS! The American people deserve it.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham jumped in with approval on Trump’s proposal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is under pressure from both sides of the fence now and has for months, led Republican efforts to limit how much Congress could approve in COVID-19 stimulus spending.
With Democrats and other Republicans quickly siding with President Trump, McConnell now has to cave-in on the President’s request, or stand firm and try to justify denying larger payments to Americans. Standing firm could, and most likely would have ramifications, however, and cost the GOP senate control in the upcoming Georgia run-off election.
So, waddya say Mitch?