McConnell has offered a competing measure that would tie an increase in the checks to removing a legal shield for tech companies and creating a commission to examine the 2020 elections. But that proposal is viewed as a non-starter for Democrats, underscoring that the GOP leader’s bill also is unable to pass the Senate.
“There is no other game in town beside the House bill. . The House has recessed for the year. Any modification or addition, the House bill cannot become law before the end of this Congress,” Schumer said.
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If the Senate passes anything besides the exact language of the House bill, the measure would need to bounce back across the Capitol and passed for a second time by the House, where lawmakers have already left town and aren’t expected to return until Sunday for the swearing in of the 117th Congress.
The back-and-forth on the floor comes after McConnell signaled on Wednesday that the Senate would not pass the House bill, warning that they were not going to split increasing the checks from repealing Section 230, a legal shield used by tech companies, and a commission on the 2020 election.
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McConnell, on Thursday, teed off against the House bill, characterizing it as socialism for rich people because under the House-passed bill some higher income households who hadn t been expected to get a payment under the $2.3 trillion deal could be eligible. Our colleagues who purport to be the champions of vulnerable Americans now say that what struggling people really need is for Congress to stop focusing on targeted relief for them specifically and to instead send thousands of dollars to people who don t need help, McConnell said from the Senate floor.
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McConnell signaled separately that he could package the increase in direct stimulus checks, with a repeal of a tech shield that has emerged as a top target for Trump and election-related investigations. Trump, in his statement on signing the $2.3 trillion package, said the Senate would start the process for a vote that tackles the three issues. During this process, the president highlighted three additional issues of national significance he would like to see Congress tackle together, McConnell said. Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together. This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus, he added.