House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the House will vote on Monday on a stand-alone bill to send Americans $2,000 stimulus checks after Republicans blocked an effort to boost the stimulus checks in the latest COVID-19 relief bill.
On Thursday, House Democrats tried to pass a stand-alone bill that would boost the amount of the direct payments sent out under the relief bill from $600 to $2,000 by unanimous consent. However, the requires a bipartisan agreement to do so, and House Republicans blocked the move.
The push to increase the amount of the checks comes after President Donald Trump blasted the $600 stimulus checks and called on Congress to increase the amount of the checks. He also signaled that he would not sign the current bill.
In a statement after the attempt failed, Pelosi said, “Today, on Christmas Eve morning, House Republicans cruelly deprived the American people of the $2,000 that the President agreed to support. If the President is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction.”
She continued to note that House Democrats were pushing for larger stimulus checks during negotiations on the bill, but Republicans “said that they would not go above $600.”
“On Monday, I will bring the House back to session where we will hold a recorded vote on our stand-alone bill to increase economic impact payments to $2,000. To vote against this bill is to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny them the relief they need,” she continued.
Finally, she said, “Hopefully by then the President will have already signed the bipartisan and bicameral legislation to keep government open and to deliver coronavirus relief.”
Congress passed the roughly $900 billion relief bill and a $1.4 trillion government funding bill on Monday night.
However, on Tuesday, Trump blasted both bills due to the billions of dollars that were allocated for foreign aid and the size of the stimulus checks in the relief bill, as IJR reported.
In a video posted on Twitter, he said, “Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it.”
“I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple,” he added.
He also said that unless Congress sends him a “suitable bill,” then the “next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.”