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Mitch McConnell blocks unanimous vote on $2,000 COVID-19 stimulus checks | 29 Dec 2020 | Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked unanimous passage of $2,000 COVID-19 stimulus checks. McConnell (R-Ky.) objected after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asked for unanimous passage. It s unclear if McConnell will allow a floor vote on the bill that passed the House on Monday with 44 Republican votes. President Trump requested the $2,000 checks last week, saying the $600 checks approved as part of a $2.3 trillion pandemic relief and government funding bill were too small.
A person walks a dog with the Capitol in the background Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Photo: Associated Press
By LISA MASCARO and JILL COLVIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked Democrats’ push to immediately bring President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks up for a vote, saying the chamber would “begin a process” to address the issue.
Pressure is mounting on the Republican-led Senate to follow the House, which voted overwhelmingly on Monday to meet the president’s demand to increase the checks from $600 as the virus crisis worsens. A growing number of Republicans, including two senators in runoff elections on Jan. 5 in Georgia, have said they will support the larger amount. But most GOP senators oppose more spending, even if they are also wary of bucking Trump.
Second stimulus check update: McConnell says ‘no realistic path’ for Senate to pass $2,000 payment despite Trump plea
Updated Dec 31, 2020;
Posted Dec 31, 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the Senate floor at the Capitol on Dec. 30, 2020. AP
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UPDATE: McConnell on Thursday again stopped the Senate from considering the House-passed bill raising the stimulus payments to $2,000.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday once again blocked legislation to send $2,000 payments to most Americans
McConnell, R-Ky., ignored a new plea from President Donald Trump who tweeted earlier Wednesday, “$2000 ASAP!” in refusing to allow a vote on the Senate floor. So did U.S. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., who blocked a second request for a vote. and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who blocked a third request.
McConnell blocks $2,000 stimulus checks
Senate majority leader refuses to let stimulus bonus be a stand-alone issue, dooming its chances. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Dec. 16.
Photo by (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/TNS)
WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday closed off chances of the Senate acting anytime soon on a House bill that would give most Americans $2,000 stimulus payments.
The Kentucky Republican said the House legislation, approved in a bipartisan vote Monday, “has no realistic path” to quick passage in the Senate and that it falls short of the demands of President Donald Trump. He again blocked an attempt by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to adopt the House bill to increase the payments to $2,000 from the $600 by unanimous consent.
McConnell called Hawley out over objecting to Electoral College vote during conference call Hawley wasn’t on
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday held a conference call with the Senate GOP conference in which he pressed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley to explain the rationale behind his plans to object to the Electoral College vote, according to a source directly familiar with the call.
Hawley did not respond to multiple questions from McConnell, including when asked to lay out his plan to object to the Electoral College vote and senators soon recognized he wasn’t actually on the call. Politico was the first to report the news of the call that an official told CNN occurred earlier Thursday.