Trump Signs Stimulus And Government Spending Bill Into Law Averting Shutdown
President Trump unexpectedly capitulated Sunday night and signed the stimulus bill into law, releasing $900 billion in emergency relief funds into the economy and averting a Tuesday government shutdown.
White House officials didnt explain why the president decided to suddenly back down and sign into law a bill he had held up for nearly a week and had referred to as a disgrace just days earlier.
Trump signed the bill while vacationing in Florida and on a weekend when he had allowed unemployment benefits for 14 million Americans to expire.
He had demanded changes to the stimulus and spending package for a week, suggesting he would refuse to sign it until these demands were met. This continued defiance caused lawmakers from both parties to panic over the weekend, worried about the implications of a government shutdown during a pandemic. It was unclear what prompted him to change his mind late Sunday, but he was under tremendous pressure from Republicans to acquiesce.
In a statement he issued after signing the law, Trump released a long list of false claims and grievances. He said he would be sending a redlined version of the bill back to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.
Trump has less than a month remaining in his presidency, and lawmakers are likely to ignore any such request.
In the same statement, he said much more money is coming, and I will never give up my fight for the American people!
Biden A Profane President Particularly Fond Of Dropping F
President Trump on Sunday signed a $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill that includes $600 stimulus checks for most Americans, after refusing to accept the deal for days.
The nearly 5,600-page bill passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins Monday night, just hours after its text was released.
Trump signed it several days after saying the legislation was a disgrace and calling on Congress to up the relief payments to $2,000 and scale back spending.
In a statement Sunday night, the president said he would ask for millions of dollars in spending to be removed from the bill.
I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed, Trump said.
While the president insisted he would send Congress a redlined version with items to be removed under the rescission process, those are merely suggestions to Congress. The bill, as signed, would not necessarily be changed.
The bill authorizes direct checks of $600 for people earning up to $75,000 per year. The amount decreases for higher earners, and people who make over $95,000 get nothing.
Theres an additional $600-per-child stimulus payment.
In his statement, Trump said Congress on Monday would vote on a separate bill to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000.
Therefore, a family of four would receive $5,200, the president said about the increase, which would require Republican approval.
Trump Signs $900 Billion Covid Relief Package
The legislation also funds the federal government through September. Congress passed the bill with strong bipartisan support late Monday, but Trump upended the consensus by suddenly raising an objection to the size of a new round of direct payments, which came as news to his aides who had negotiated them with Congress.
He demanded that lawmakers raise the amount to $2,000 and criticized other elements, which he called “pork,” in the mammoth spending package, including routine annual foreign aid payments. Trump reiterated his criticism Saturday, tweeting, “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill.”
The Covid-19 aid package includes additional assistance for small businesses and $600 in direct payments to Americans who earned less than $75,000 in the previous tax year.
The amount represented a compromise between Democrats, who wanted larger checks, and Republicans, many of whom opposed additional direct payments.
In a statement Sunday announcing that he had signed the relief bill while claiming that both chambers of Congress would begin the process of meeting some of his demands, Trump said he had “told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child.”
He continued: “As President I am demanding many rescissions under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.”
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Trump Vetoes The Bill
Trump rejects the bill that passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives and Senate. This would present Congress with two options: 1. Round up the two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override Trumps veto before the bill expires, and then it automatically becomes law.
2. Sustain the presidents veto, a scenario likely if enough Republicans abandon the legislation, despite their earlier votes for passage. The bill is killed.
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Covid: Us Parties Wrangle In Congress After Trump Shuns Stimulus Bill
Democrats and Republicans have blocked each other’s attempts to amend a vital $900bn stimulus package after President Donald Trump sent it back to Congress demanding changes.
The coronavirus economic relief, which comes with a $1.4tn federal budget attached, was agreed by both sides.
But Mr Trump said one-off payments to Americans should increase from $600 to $2,000, and foreign aid should be cut.
Without the bill in force, many Americans face an uncertain Christmas.
Unemployment benefits are due to expire on Saturday if the bill is not enacted, and a moratorium on evictions may not be extended.
Legislators could pass a stopgap bill by Monday to prevent a partial government shutdown looming a day later, but this would not include coronavirus aid and Mr Trump would still have to sign it.
Meeting on Thursday in response to Mr Trump’s intervention, Democrats in the House of Representatives blocked Republican attempts to cut foreign aid from the federal spending bill, while Republicans refused to allow the increase in coronavirus payments to $2,000.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said in a letter to colleagues: “House Democrats appear to be suffering from selective hearing.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the lower chamber would meet again next Monday to vote on the stimulus payments for Americans.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “Glad to see the President is willing to support our legislation.”
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President Trump Pushes $2000 Checks: Give Our People The Money
On Thursday, the bill was sent from Washington to Florida, where Trump is spending the holidays at his Palm Beach resort. It remains unclear whether Trump will sign it.
The government is funded through Monday. Failure to sign the bill before then could lead to a shutdown and would delay the much-needed coronavirus relief.
Trump Expected To Sign Covid
Trump signed the stopgap on Monday night, which will ensure that government departments and agencies will stay open until the he can sign the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill and the attached COVID-19 relief package, which passed both houses of Congress late Monday.
The stopgap keeps the government funded through Dec. 28.
Trump is expected to sign the coronavirus relief bill on Tuesday, which includes aid for small businesses, enhanced unemployment payments and another round of direct stimulus payments to most Americans.
The White House said Trump will sign the bills when they reach his desk.
Monday night was the third time Trump had to sign a temporary stopgap measure to prevent a federal shutdown. He signed a one-day measure on Sunday to cover Monday. Federal funding from the last spending bill ran out on Friday.
Despite Congress signing the larger package Monday, the stopgap measure was needed to cover the logistics of Trumps signing the spending bill, which at nearly 5,600 pages is one of the largest pieces of legislation ever passed.
The computer digital files with the cumbersome bill was also slowed because of a computer glitch that slowed the process further on Monday.
The new omnibus spending bill will keep the federal government operating until at least October.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that the first stimulus payments, in the amount of $600 per person and $600 for dependents, should begin arriving in accounts next week.
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Trump Signs Coronavirus Aid Bill As Tensions Rise Over Next One
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signed a nearly $500 billion interim coronavirus bill into law Friday that includes additional money for the small-business loan program, as well as more funding for hospitals and testing.
Trump was joined in the Oval Office for the bill signing by Republican lawmakers and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who has been a key White House negotiator with Congress in coronavirus aid legislation. During the ceremony, Trump walked back his comments from the day before that people could get an injection of a disinfectant that kills the coronavirus, telling reporters that he was being sarcastic.
Trump also threatened to hold up the next round of coronavirus legislation if the U.S. Postal Service does not raise its rates. Democrats have been arguing for money to be included for the USPS in the emergency funding bills.
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President Trump Signs Bill That Includes $900 Billion Stimulus Deal After Delay
President Trump signed legislation on Sunday evening that provides crucial government spending and $900 billion in pandemic-related stimulus after demanding that the bill be amended in various ways.
The president has signed H.R. 133, an Act making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, providing coronavirus emergency response and relief, and for other purposes, White House spokesperson Judd Deere stated Sunday evening.
The entire $2.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, which funds the government through September 2021, passed both chambers of Congress on Monday night with overwhelming support.
The $900 billion coronavirus relief portion of the bill includes $600 stimulus checks, extends two federal unemployment programs, provides an additional $300 in weekly jobless benefits, and adds another round of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses.
Also included is funding for vaccine distribution and schools, $25 billion in rental assistance, an extension of the eviction moratorium, $13 billion in food assistance, and $7 billion to increase access to broadband.
The legislation did not include aid for state and local governments or liability protections for businesses both key sticking points in earlier negotiations. Democrats called the liability protection a poison pill, while the GOP characterized the state and local aid as a blue state bailout.
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Kamala Harris Campaigns For Ossoff Warnock In Georgia
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris campaigned Monday in Georgia for two Democratic Senate candidates whose races will determine control of the chamber.
She campaigned for Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who are challenging Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelley Loeffler, respectively. The Senate now has 50 Republican senators and 48 members who caucus with Democrats. If both challengers win, Harris could break Senate ties in favor of Bidens priorities.
Harris recited President-elect Joe Bidens priorities for expanding Medicare and Medicaid, tripling Title I funding for schools and providing assistance to first-time homebuyers.
Everything is at stake, Harris said.
Warnock had said earlier that the Democrats would better provide health care and distribute the vaccine for COVID-19 before rebuilding the country with an infrastructure program.
Weve got to get the vaccine distributed safely and efficiently, Warnock said. Weve got to make sure that communities of color and other marginalized communities dont find themselves at the back of the line.
A small group of protesters assembled outside the event, with several carrying signs. Kamala is a socialist, a sign said.
Georgia has reliably supported Republicans statewide for decades, but Biden beat President Donald Trump this year. Harris had planned two campaign events Monday, but had to return to Washington to vote on the COVID-19 stimulus package and federal spending legislation.
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Ceos Seek Liability Shield In Next Relief Bill
Business leaders are calling on Congress to act on a new pandemic relief bill next year, including aid for state and local governments and liability protections for employers from virus-related lawsuits.
The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers including Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc. and Tim Cook of Apple Inc., called for Congress to address some of the more controversial measures that were left out of the relief bill.
Republicans had been pushing for a liability shield that Democrats said would provide overly broad protection from employer responsibility for worker safety. Democrats wanted direct aid for state and local governments, which Republicans described as a bailout for Democratic-led states.
We urge policymakers to revisit at the start of 2021 how best to provide liability protections to businesses that follow federal worker and customer safety guidelines and assistance to state and local governments, the association wrote in a statement. — Jarrell Dillard
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Factbox: Now What Happens To The $892 Billion Covid Aid Bill Here Are Three Options
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WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trumps surprise opposition to emergency coronavirus aid and annual government funding passed by Congress has left Americans and global financial markets wondering whether Washington will iron out its differences or descend into chaos in the coming days.
Trump has not yet said whether he will veto the $892 billion for COVID-19 relief that is coupled with $1.4 trillion to fund an array of federal agencies through next September.
Heres how this standoff could play out:
Aoc Ramping Up The Crazy
Ocasio-Cortez made headlines earlier this week when she suggested that large, coordinated smash-and-grab robberies, which are well-documented and causing businesses to shut down in Democrat strongholds, didnt really exist.
In an interview with the Washington Times, AOC claimed a lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out.
It was a claim even the White House rejected.
Rep. says a lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out. says well, we dont agree, cites numerous efforts with DOJ and FBI.
Philip Melanchthon Wegmann
Los Angeles Detective Jamie McBride eviscerated AOC for the claim.
This AOC experiment was nice, now its time for her to go back to bartending and doing what she does best, because, shes definitely not a lawmaker and doesnt keep citizens safe, said McBride.
Fox News reports that despite her stirring up amnesty talk it appears highly unlikely AOC and progressives will get what they want on immigration reform.
The Senate is evenly split at 50-50, and it is nearly certain that at least one Democrat would refuse to vote to overrule the parliamentarian, they write.
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