Trump has threatened to veto the relief bill. He has not officially vetoed and he is "still deciding" if he will. Current state of play is here. He could still sign the bill, he could veto the bill, or he could let the bill sit for 10 days, also essentially killing the bill. If he outright vetoes Congress could override the veto. They are back in session Monday December 28th.
Trump has said that he wants $2K direct aid stimulus payments instead of the $600. He also said there is too much "other spending" in the bill.
First let us be clear and clarify: the relief bill passed Congress as part of the full year government spending bill (the omnibus). It is not solely a relief bill. All of the funding not related to relief (much of the spending Trump is claiming he is opposed to) is part of the larger government spending bill. This means the point of contention is NOT the relief part of the bill and if Trump kills the bill, he will be allowing Americans to suffer for politics.
The government will shut down without passage of the full bill by Monday.
12 million jobless Americans will lose all benefits starting Saturday if unemployment relief extensions aren't passed by then.
Trump's theatrics are dangerous. He should've been active in negotiations, not threatening to stop the progress now.
Trump blamed the Democrats for all of these issues, in a clearly political move, but the Democrats have come back happily with an amendment to the bill for $2K checks.
If Trump is serious about $2K checks he will encourage McConnell & the other Republicans to pass the $2K amendment.
The House will be attempting to pass that amendment on Thursday.
Yes, of course, we would love to see $2K checks go out. We also cannot wait any longer for relief. 12 million jobless Americans are going to lose all benefits in 3 days if this bill isn't signed immediately. The uncertainty & instability caused is cruel.
Comments