Trump claims he’s working behind the scenes to push for more stimulus checks
- President Trump in a new interview has called on Congress to approve funding for a round of new stimulus checks "right now."
- In an interview with Fox News, Trump blamed the lack of action on new stimulus checks on Democrats.
- A $908 billion compromise stimulus bill emerged in Congress earlier this month, but it didn't include funding for a new wave of stimulus checks. Senators are still pushing to include that benefit in any legislation passed before the end of the year.
The end of 2020 is, thankfully, fast-approaching -- a deadline that's putting congressional leaders in a bit of a bind as they race to try and finish work that needs to be done on major legislation before the holidays. One monumental task still confronting lawmakers has to do with the passage of another coronavirus relief package that may or may not include funding for new stimulus checks. President Trump, for his part, used the occasion of a new TV interview following his November 3 re-election loss to call for new stimulus checks "right now" and to lay the blame for their continued absence at the feet of, who else, Democrats. "Right now, I want to see checks -- for more money than they're talking about -- going to people," Trump said during an interview with Brian Kilmeade of Fox News that aired on Sunday. "I'm pushing it very hard, and to be honest with you, if the Democrats really wanted to do the deal, they'd do the deal."
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As a reminder, it's been nine months since Congress passed the first stimulus package -- the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which included, among other things, funding that made possible a wave of $1,200 stimulus checks for most Americans. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers produced a $908 billion compromise in an effort to get at least some kind of stimulus package passed after months of stalemate. However, a group of progressive Democratic senators, as well as Vermont's independent Senator Bernie Sanders, blasted that proposal for not including money for a new round of stimulus payments to individuals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIoexgAMF80 At this point, it remains to be seen whether lawmakers will be able to squeeze in any kind of agreement in time to approve new stimulus checks before the end of 2020. One hopeful sign: In recent days, Sanders and Republican Senator Josh Hawley introduced an amendment to a spending bill that must be passed by the end of this week, with the amendment itself providing funding for a new wave of $1,200 stimulus checks. This amendment is basically another version of what the CARES Act included. The $1,200 payments would be phased out completely for individuals who make more than $99,000 per year, for example, and there would be an additional $500 provided for children under the age of 17.
- President Trump in a new interview has called on Congress to approve funding for a round of new stimulus checks "right now."
- In an interview with Fox News, Trump blamed the lack of action on new stimulus checks on Democrats.
- A $908 billion compromise stimulus bill emerged in Congress earlier this month, but it didn't include funding for a new wave of stimulus checks. Senators are still pushing to include that benefit in any legislation passed before the end of the year.
The end of 2020 is, thankfully, fast-approaching -- a deadline that's putting congressional leaders in a bit of a bind as they race to try and finish work that needs to be done on major legislation before the holidays.
One monumental task still confronting lawmakers has to do with the passage of another coronavirus relief package that may or may not include funding for new stimulus checks. President Trump, for his part, used the occasion of a new TV interview following his November 3 re-election loss to call for new stimulus checks "right now" and to lay the blame for their continued absence at the feet of, who else, Democrats. "Right now, I want to see checks -- for more money than they're talking about -- going to people," Trump said during an interview with Brian Kilmeade of Fox News that aired on Sunday. "I'm pushing it very hard, and to be honest with you, if the Democrats really wanted to do the deal, they'd do the deal."
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Trump claims he’s working behind the scenes to push for more stimulus checks originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 14 Dec 2020 at 14:10:28 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.