Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, blocked a vote Wednesday (Dec. 30) on a bill that would have increased bailout checks to $2,000. A day earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did the same thing.
Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, proposed a vote on the CASH Act by “unanimous consent. This would have increased the original $600 bailout check by $1,400. Cornyn vetoed it.
This is not about helping those who need it most,” Cornyn said. It’s to help millionaires and billionaires and – frankly – those who have not suffered as much financial hardship as others have during this epidemic.”
The Cash Act has caps on eligibility. For example, the check will not be issued to any household with an annual income of $350,000 or more. The Texas senator previously noted that the bill similarly does not distinguish between those who receive a paycheck during the epidemic and those who lose their jobs.
And Markey said in response that the $2,000 check would help American families out of a difficult situation.
The American people need support,” he said. They need to be able to go and trust their government, and they need $2,000 right now.”
At least six Republican senators have said they would vote for the $2,000 check initiative if a vote were taken. But none of those six are part of the Senate Republican leadership. All Senate Democrats support raising the check amount.
Cornyn portrayed the $2,000 check as coming from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, noted that it was President Trump‘s first time proposing a higher amount after Congress recently passed a new relief package for the C.C.V. (New Coronavirus) outbreak.
This morning, the president told us that we should act as soon as possible,” Durbin said. While it’s not often that I come to the floor and express my agreement with the president, this time he was right. In this case, he’s clearly right. What do we do now?”
In response, Cornyn proposed combining the $2,000 check with a provision to protect the company from liability lawsuits related to the Chinese Communist virus. Durbin responded that Cornyn’s proposal to include such provisions in the bill was “too much” and that they went beyond “reasonable measures” to protect businesses.
Markey has since asked the Senate to vote on the Cash Bill on Thursday (Dec. 31) on a “no-objection vote.
A “no-objection vote” means that there will be no recorded vote, but it will allow any senator to veto the bill.
The situation is similar to Tuesday. At that time, McConnell first denied a request for a “no-objection vote” on the CASH Act. Then he blocked another request for a recorded vote on the bill.
A few hours later, McConnell introduced his own bill, which included a $2,000 check, but had other provisions opposed by Democrats, such as repealing Section 230 of the Communications Regulatory Act. That provision is believed to have protected some tech giant companies from lawsuits.
Speaking on the Senate floor on Wednesday, the congressional Republican leader said the Senate would not vote on the Cash Act.
McConnell said, “The Senate is not going to separate the three issues that President Trump has asked to be addressed simply because Democrats are afraid to address two of them. The Senate will not cave in to pressure to rush more borrowed money to rich Democratic friends who don’t need the help.” He added that the Cash Bill “is inconsistent with President Trump’s proposals” and “is not realistic to pass the Senate quickly.”
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