President Donald Trump is calling on Congress to revise the new COVID-19 relief package and send him a new bill that would provide Americans $2,000 stimulus checks.
Or else, he says it will be up to President-elect Joe Biden to pass a much-needed relief package in late-January.
Congress passed the latest stimulus bill on Monday. The massive $2.3 trillion package included a $1.4 trillion bill to keep the government open and an approximately $900 billion relief package.
In a video released on Twitter on Tuesday night, Trump signaled he would not sign the relief package, as he said the current bill is a “disgrace.”
He noted the bill is longer than 5,000 pages and claimed “nobody in Congress has read” it because of “its length and complexity.” He went on to note that the government funding package provides billions of dollars in foreign aid.
“This bill contains $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia, $134 million to Burma, $1.3 billion for Eygpt and the Eygptian military […] $25 million for democracy and gender programs in Pakistan, $505 to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.”
After listing a series of domestic funding priorities, Trump turned to the details of the relief package.
“Despite all of this wasteful spending, and much more, the $900 billion package provides hard-working taxpayers with only $600 each in relief payments,” Trump said.
He went on to claim that “not enough money is given” to individuals or small businesses.
He continued, “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.
Watch the video below:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2020
He warned that unless lawmakers do not send him a “suitable bill,” the “next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who voted against the bill, called it a “representation of the screwed up priorities of Washington.”
“This bill dished out hundreds of billions of dollars going towards special interests, going towards the military-industrial complex, going towards foreign countries. Meanwhile, saying, ‘Here’s what’s left for you, you get 600 bucks,'” Gabbard said.