McConnell says push by Democrats, Trump for $2,000 stimulus checks has ‘no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate’ Tony Romm, Karoun Demirjian
Replay Video UP NEXT Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to deliver a political death blow to a last-minute push to authorize $2,000 stimulus checks for most Americans, arguing he would not be “bullied” into action despite pressure from President Trump, congressional Democrats and even some Republicans for the more generous payments. With only days left on the legislative calendar and significant business still pending on the Senate floor McConnell said Wednesday that the chamber would not vote on a House-passed stimulus bill, a move that threatened to render it impossible for lawmakers to broker a compromise before the end of the year.
Updated at 6:17 p.m. ET
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says a measure that would increase direct payments to many Americans has no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate.
McConnell is moving ahead with a plan to avoid a public rift within the GOP over stimulus payments demanded by President Trump ahead of a critical runoff election in Georgia.
Instead of putting the $2,000 relief payments for an up-or-down vote on their own, McConnell tied the checks to Trump s demands to investigate alleged voter fraud and to repeal a decades-old law that would open the door for lawsuits against social media companies for the content they choose to leave up or take down.
Good Day Lubbock: Wednesday, December 30 fox34.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fox34.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Politics in America is not that bad after all
30 Dec 2020 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to the media after the Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. File/Reuters
Jonathan Bernstein,
Tribune News Service
It was a dreadful year, obviously, and that applies to US politics, too. Nevertheless, believe it or not, some stuff was worth celebrating. Here are five good developments:
Republicans for democracy: In a year when the Republican Party overall showed an alarming and apparently accelerating lack of support for US democracy, we should recognise those who stepped up when it counted. Begin with Mitt Romney, who was the only senator in his party to risk the consequences when he voted to remove President Donald Trump from office. That was an honest-to-goodness-profile-in-courage moment.