President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to pass a stimulus bill in a tweet Saturday night, calling for Americans to receive “more money in direct payments.”
“Why isn’t Congress giving our people a Stimulus Bill? It wasn’t their fault, it was the fault of China,” he said, in reference to the coronavirus pandemic. “GET IT DONE, and give them more money in direct payments.”
Trump said he wanted the payments to be “at least” $1,200 and perhaps as large as $2,000, The Washington Post reported.
Other lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Josh Hawley, and 17 House Democrats have also called for larger checks.
On Friday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley criticized the $600 stimulus checks, calling them “survival checks.” In an interview on MSNBC, she said “600 dollars does not even cover one month’s rent.”
BREAKING NOW:
Congress passed a two-day spending bill Friday night, avoiding a partial government shutdown and buying more time for the ridiculously slow negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief deal. With $600 direct payments to Americans.
If lawmakers do not reach a deal by 12:01 a.m. ET Monday morning, the government will shut down. Negotiations in Congress have failed to produce a new COVID-19 stimulus deal. But on Saturday night, lawmakers finally reached a compromise on the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers and a vote is expected today.