US lawmakers on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s attempts to alter the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief package, rejecting the incumbent’s efforts to make big changes in the spending and leaving financial benefits for millions of Americans at risk.
Even though the Democrats were ready to increase the number of stimulus checks to $2,000, the Republican lawmakers who opposed higher spending blocked the move in the House of Representatives. On the other hand, the legislators from the Republican party sought to change the amount of aid for foreign countries, but the Democrats blocked their attempt.
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Despite the flurry of activity on the floor, the lawmakers failed to end the deadlock on the much-needed package and raise concerns for a partial federal government shutdown. This comes at a time when the federal government, with the support of the states, is preparing to launch one of America’s biggest vaccination drives.
Moreover, on Thursday, a group of bipartisan Senate and House members urged the incumbent to back down and sign the bill. But President Donald Trump was busy playing golf on Thursday, and the White House did not issue an immediate comment on the development. The bill passed by Congress took months of negotiations, and the Trump administration had previously maintained that it would sign the bill.
As of Thursday, it remains unclear whether Trump would eventually sign the bill, or the Congress aggress to change the bill. But if Congress fails to pass a spending bill, then there are chances of a partial federal government shutdown from next Tuesday. Moreover, the delay in the funds could also affect the vaccination drive across the country.
On Monday, the congressional leaders could also pass a stopgap bill to avoid any shutdown and keep the system running. But for that, the lawmakers would need the incumbent’s support at a time when he has repeatedly refused to concede to Joe Biden’s victory. However, the stopgap bill will include the coronavirus stimulus.
Meanwhile, many Democrats have maintained that $892 billion are not enough to tackle the coronavirus outbreak and commended Trump’s call for an increase in individual stimulus checks. Besides that, Congress also plans to override a presidential veto on a defense spending bill. Also, President-elect’s transition team refrained from commenting on Thursday’s development. But Biden had earlier stated that a large relief package is needed to fight the pandemic.
