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Bipartisan calls to increase the amount of COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000 is facing resistance in the GOP-controlled Senate and sparking division between President Trump and Republican lawmakers. Calls to boost the amount of the direct payments from $600 are gaining support, with Trump, Democratic leadership and a growing number of GOP senators, including vulnerable incumbents in Georgia, backing the effort. But a House-passed bill is still facing headwinds in the Senate that could doom its chances. The House has already left Washington, D.C., meaning that for the bill to become law, it must pass the Senate, without any changes,...

On Tuesday, McConnell introduced his own proposal for $2,000 checks, adding in measures that would repeal Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act—a law shielding social media companies from liability for posts shared by users—and establish a commission to study voter fraud, fulfilling two long-time wishes of some Republican voters who believe that both social media companies and the election were biased against Trump. If McConnell's measure is passed by Senate Republicans, House Democrats could be forced to vote on the measure, and most are expected to vote against. Republicans could then claim that Democrats killed an effort to...

Senator Mitch McConnell blocked an attempt by Democrats on Tuesday to hold an immediate vote on increasing stimulus checks to $2,000 from $600, leaving the fate of the measure unclear as President Trump continued to demand the larger payouts and more Republicans publicly endorsed the idea. Instead, Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, provided vague assurances that the Senate would “begin the process” of discussing $2,000 checks and two other issues that Mr. Trump has demanded lawmakers address: election security and removing legal protections for social media platforms. Mr. McConnell would not say whether he planned separate...

In an effort to compete with the Democrat-approved bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced his own bill to provide $2,000 stimulus checks. McConnell proposed the new bill on Tuesday, shortly after he rejected a request for unanimous consent on the House’s bill. Unlike the Democrat approved bill, however, McConnell’s version would repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Additionally, it would set up a commission to study voter fraud. This came after Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) vowed to delay a vote to override President Trump’s veto of the NDAA until the Senate votes on the stimulus payments. McConnell’s...

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will try to pass legislation on Tuesday to increase the amount of the stimulus checks included in a recently signed coronavirus package from $600 to $2,000. Schumer’s effort, which he announced on Monday night, comes after the House passed the legislation in a bipartisan 275-134 vote, kicking the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate. “Tomorrow I will move to pass the legislation in the Senate to quickly deliver Americans with $2,000 emergency checks. Every Senate Democrat is for this much-needed increase in emergency financial relief, which can be approved tomorrow if no Republican blocks it...

The Treasury Department and other federal agencies did not reveal specific timelines for when stimulus checks, small business aid, and unemployment benefits would be released, and it’s unclear how much Trump’s decision to drag out the process has impacted their work.

In the crucial Georgia Senate runoff races, Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are using President Donald Trump’s latest push for larger stimulus checks to bash incumbent GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. In video posted Tuesday night, Trump called the $900 billion Covid relief bill passed by Congress an unsuitable “disgrace” and urged lawmakers to make a number of changes, including increasing the $600 stimulus checks to $2,000. The two Democratic Senate candidates, who have advocated for larger direct payments, wasted no time in responding to Trump’s move and criticizing their opponents..........."

@ChadPergram Schumer on if $2,000 stimulus checks can get through the Senate: It's up to the Senate. Every Senate Democrat is for it but unfortunately we don't have Republicans on board...I will be on the Senate floor tomorrow urging that to happen

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) lauded President Donald Trump for moving to sign the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government spending bill, but made no mention of the president’s demands, such as raising direct payments to $2,000. “I applaud President Trump’s decision to get hundreds of billions of dollars of crucial COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] relief out the door and into the hands of American families as quickly as possible,” McConnell said in a statement:

Trump had refused to sign a Covid relief bill until Congress raised the amount of money paid to everyday Americans. President Trump on Sunday night signed a $2.3 trillion federal spending and COVID relief bill, averting a government shutdown and ensuring millions of Americans continue to get unemployment benefits. Despite his misgivings about wasteful spending and low stimulus payments in the bill, Trump said he signed the legislation because “I have an obligation to protect the people of our country“ from further economic devastation. He said, however, “more money is coming” as Congress votes this week on larger checks. The...

Donald J. Trump @real Donald Trump 6:21 pm December 27, 2020 Good news on Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow!

@Maximus_4EVR FYI Budget Update -President Trump just invoked the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 while signing the COVID bill, allowing him to redline areas that must be addressed. -This sends it back to Congress forcing them to 1) repeal 230, 2) cut out the wasteful spending, 3) add $2k. FYI BU 2 -This is a virtually unknown law and has taken Congress by surprise. -It also signals his intent to invoke *other* laws in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. FYI BU 3 -PER FOX: The Senate will start the process that increases checks to $2k, repeals Section 230, starts an...

As President of the United States it is my responsibility to protect the people of our country from the economic devastation and hardship that was caused by the China Virus.I understand that many small businesses have been forced to close as a result of harsh actions by Democrat-run states. Many people are back to work, but my job is not done until everyone is back to work.Fortunately, as a result of my work with Congress in passing the CARES Act earlier this year, we avoided another Great Depression. Under my leadership, Project Warp Speed has been a tremendous success, my...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that House Democrats would vote Monday on a standalone bill that would provide direct payments to Americans of $2,000 a person. Pelosi, D-Calif., made the announcement moments after House Republicans blocked a Democratic bid to increase the payments as passed in the stimulus bill earlier this week from $600 a person to $2,000. "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...

Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers told Bloomberg on Friday that $2,000 stimulus checks for Americans would be a "pretty serious mistake." Summers, who was reportedly an adviser to President-elect Joe Biden's campaign, said boosting consumer spending was the wrong route to economic recovery. The checks could overheat the US economy, he told Bloomberg.

On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Velshi,” House Majority Senior Whip Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said that Democrats will vote to increase direct payments to $2,000 on Monday, and believes that the vote will pass in the House.

Republicans like to mock Modern Monetary Theory—the idea that government can print money with impunity, that government can spend whatever it wants without the need to tax. Modern Monetary Theory is basically the Dick Cheney “deficits don’t matter” crowd trussed up with a new fancy title. Most Republican rightly lampoon this quackery—that is, when they’re not practicing the quackery themselves. Today many of these same Republicans will vote for a bill that makes Modern Monetary Theory look like child’s play in comparison. This bill is free money for everyone. Proponents don’t care if you’re fully employed or own your own...

After the congressional passage of the 5,593 page COVID “stimulus” bill on Monday, President Trump shot the legislation back into the hands of congress demanding that the direct payments to Americans increase from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples. The President also called for congress to amend the bill in order to cut out the “waste and unnecessary” items, a point that is being overlooked by the media and members of congress. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded quickly to Trump’s Tuesday night veto threat by whole heartedly agreeing with the idea of sending a larger...

President Donald Trump has indicated he wants Congress to approve a stand-alone bill that would authorize a second round of $1,200 checks...

A coronavirus relief bill that includes a version of the Save Our Stages Act—an act that theatre and live performance industry members have championed as a partial remedy during the extended shutdown—is expected to pass in congress December 21 after months of halted negotiations and political stalemates. -snip- As detailed in the initial proposal, the bipartisan act, authored by Democratic Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn, would offer multi-million-dollar grants to live venues (including large-scale houses such as Broadway theatres) to keep arts workers employed and maintain expenses including rent and mortgages.