CNN-Senate Democrats push for $2,000 stimulus checks as clock winds down on 116th Congress
By Clare Foran and Ali Zaslav, CNN
Updated 4:38 PM ET, Fri January 1, 2021
(CNN)Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed, without success, for a Senate vote on $2,000 stimulus checks Friday as the clock winds down on the 116th Congress.
Efforts by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Sanders to secure a vote on increasing the direct payment amounts that Americans under a certain income level receive were blocked by Senate Republicans, who have largely argued that increasing stimulus checks to $2,000 would not be the kind of “targeted relief” necessary to respond to the economic distress caused by the pandemic, despite the fact that President Donald Trump has called for that amount.
Schumer took to the Senate floor, saying, “The Senate can start off this new year by adding to that sense of hope by sending $2,000 checks to struggling American families.” He then pushed for a vote on $2,000 checks, but was blocked when a GOP senator objected.
The House of Representatives on Monday passed a measure to increase stimulus checks to $2,000 after the President championed the effort, sending the bill to the Senate where its future has been less certain. Time for action is running out. The 117th Congress will convene on Sunday.
The legislation’s approval in the House came after Trump signed a sweeping coronavirus relief bill into law Sunday evening. That measure, which was negotiated on a bipartisan basis, provides for $600 in direct payments, but after a deal was brokered and passed out of Congress, Trump railed against the amount as too low and called for $2,000 checks instead, which House Democrats seized upon to push for an increase.
Ce sujet reviendra probablement plus tard en debut d’annee, lors du 117e Congres…
A suivre.
Il n’y a plus de raison de laisser les debats de rethorique diriger la planete quand celle-ci est a feu et a sang. C’est le temps d’agir… pour sauver ce qui reste de la population americaine…et ca prend de l’argent… mais certainement moins que les exemptions fiscales des 10 dernieres annees… Ca c’etait du socialisme pour les riches…
CNN-The 117th Congress will be sworn in today. Here’s what you need to know.
From CNN’s Clare Foran, Kristin Wilson, Ted Barrett, Alex Rogers and Lauren Fox
The House and Senate chambers are convening right now. The 117th Congress will officially be sworn in later today.
The Constitution calls for Congress to convene on January 3 at noon ET — the reason for the rare Sunday session.
Newly elected and returning members will take the oath of office and the full House of Representatives will vote to elect a new Speaker. Nancy Pelosi, who has served as House speaker in the 116th Congress, is on track to remain in the role.
Pelosi has a slim margin for error on Sunday. After serving 17 years as the House Democratic leader, Pelosi is running unopposed. But she will have to count votes carefully to ensure that she can avoid any embarrassment on the House floor, facing the Democrats’ smallest majority in decades, a pandemic that could hinder attendance and some in her caucus agitating for new leadership, as well as unified Republican resistance.
