The bill, which was passed by a vote of 275-134, enters into force the day after Mr Trump signed the Coronavirus Withdrawal Bill on Sunday evening. The measure, agreed on a dual basis, provides for USD 600 in direct payments. However, after the agreement was reached and withdrew from Congress, Mr. Trump found the amount too low and instead demanded $2,000 checks, which prompted Democrats in the House to request an increase.
Democrats seized Trump’s complaint about 11th-hour direct payments to pressure Republicans in Congress to pass a higher amount, forcing GOP lawmakers to decide whether or not to challenge the president after many argued that the overall cost of the stimulus package should not become too high.
It is not clear when or if the Senate will approve the bill. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, announced Monday that he would try to move the measure quickly through the GOP-led chamber, seeking unanimous consent that could be blocked by senators opposing it.
After a strong bipartisan vote in the House, I will pass legislation tomorrow in the Senate to provide Americans with $2,000 emergency checks quickly, Schumer said in a statement. All democratic senators support a much-needed increase in emergency financial aid that could go ahead tomorrow if the Republicans don’t block it – there is no reason for Republican senators to oppose it.
Last week Republicans in the House blocked a Democratic attempt to advance a $2,000 check, but the House tried again on Monday and held a full vote that required a two-thirds majority because it was a suspension of the rules, a threshold that meant it needed broad bipartisan support to be approved.
The president should immediately call on Congressional Republicans to end the filibuster and raise with him and the Democrats in supporting our independent legislation to the $2,000 that will be introduced into the House tomorrow, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Sunday night after Trump signed the stimulus bill.
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All Republicans are voting against this bill to deny the financial situation of families and deny the American people the help they need, Pelosi said.
The President’s last-minute objections to the stimulus bill first cast doubt on its signing. When Mr Trump finally signed the bill on Sunday night, he said in a statement that he had signed the coronavirus aid bill only after receiving an undertaking that the Senate would consider a bill to increase the incentive payment from $600 to $2,000. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, made no mention of the commitment in his own statement Sunday evening, congratulating the president on signing the bailout bill.
Now that the bill has been passed by the House, it will put McConnell in the difficult position of having to decide whether the provision should go to the Senate as a stand-alone bill. While the president urged Republicans to increase payments, many Republicans in McConnell’s ranks have made it clear that they do not believe an increase is justified, given the rising cost of the stimulus package. The approval vote may divide the GOP conference and force some members to endure Trump’s wrath in the final days of his term.
A person’s eligibility for control is determined by his or her most recent tax return. Anyone who earns less than $75,000 as an individual or less than $150,000 as a couple will receive the full amount. The amount received by individuals is reduced by $5 for every $100 earned by an individual above $75,000. In short, this means that people who earn more than $99,000 cannot earn the same amount of money as those who earn $99,000. Couples earning more than $198,000 would be ineligible, as would those earning more than $198,000.
This story was updated on Monday with additional events.
Kevin Liptak of CNN contributed to this report.
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