The Senate voted along party lines Saturday morning to reject an amendment sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a potential 2024 White House candidate, to block $1,400 stimulus checks from going to undocumented immigrants. The amendment failed by a vote of 49 to 50, with a slim majority of the Senate voting against it. Eight […]
The details of the COVID-19 relief package proposed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and nine other Republican senators as a counter to President Biden’s plan are out. The bill would cost a total of $618 billion, far below Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal. The two do find common ground on COVID-19 containment efforts like vaccine distribution […]
A bill to increase the amount of recently passed stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 was blocked for a third day in a row in the GOP-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked an effort by Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to try to schedule a vote […]
The House on Monday passed legislation that would increase the amount of direct payments in the recently signed coronavirus relief package from $600 to $2,000. The bill passed in a 275-134 vote. It needed a two-thirds majority under the procedures that were used for consideration. The measure faces an uphill battle in the GOP-controlled Senate. […]
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Friday night after spending part of the day with President Trump that the president is “more determined than ever” to stick by his demand for bigger stimulus payments for Americans than those approved by Congress in a bill passed this week. Graham’s remarks come as Trump and Congress are locked […]
In surprising comments, President Donald Trump shredded a just-passed Covid-19 relief package Tuesday night, saying the legislation includes measures that have nothing to do with the pandemic and that it is too stingy with payments to average Americans. “I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 (direct payment) to […]
Senate and House leaders are on the cusp of a coronavirus relief deal that will include direct $600 to $700 direct stimulus payments and $300-per-week supplemental unemployment assistance, according to sources familiar with the talks. The $900 billion package is the result of months of stop-and-start negotiations that received a boost in early December when […]