The possibility of COVID-19 pandemic relief checks going up from $ 600 to $ 2,000 is more remote than ever.
The leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, appeared to close the door on Wednesday to the proposal to increase direct payments, saying that the Upper House will not vote the bill called CASH Act because, in his opinion, the Congress has provided enough aid for the pandemic and
the money will go into the pockets of many families who do not need it.
"A few days ago we approved nearly $ 1 billion in aid," McConnell said on the Senate floor, referring to the $ 900 billion package signed Sunday night by President Donald Trump.
"If there are specific distressed households that still need more help," the Senate will consider "targeted smart aids.
Not another stream of borrowed money, "he added.
Telemundo News took to the streets of California last week, the most populous state in the country, where reporter Francisco Fajardo collected testimonies from Hispanics who described the $ 600 check as "insufficient", in the context of a massive loss of jobs that it still persists, almost a year after the start of the pandemic in the United States.
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Checks for $ 600 began being sent to eligible taxpayer accounts Tuesday night, according to the Treasury department.
But before signing the stimulus package that included direct payments for that amount, Trump complained that it would be insufficient and demanded to increase it to $ 2,000, a proposal that later passed in the House of Representatives, whose Democratic leaders quickly passed the initiative to the Senate for its final vote.
Trump is willing to sign it into law.
McConnell said, however, that he would not be "intimidated" into voting on the bill, despite pressure not only from Trump but from some prominent Republicans in Washington, who have also advocated for more generous payments.
"The Senate will not be intimidated into giving more loaned money to rich friends of the Democrats who do not need the help," he said.
For the second day in a row, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer tried to force a vote on the bill in that chamber.
"What we're seeing right now is McConnell is trying to clear the checks,
the $ 2,000 checks that so many American families desperately need
," Schumer said on Capitol Hill.
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With the second round of the Georgia Senate elections just days away (January 5), in which two Republicans fight for their seats in the Upper House and it is decided which party will control it, the main leaders of that caucus warned that The Republican Party's refusal to provide more aid at a time when the coronavirus leaves more financial and health consequences than ever in the United States could jeopardize the election result.
"Senate Republicans
risk losing two seats and control" of the Upper House
, Newt Gingrich, the former congressional leader, told Fox News.
The two Republican senators from Georgia, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, announced Tuesday that they support Trump's plan for bigger checks.
The president reiterated on Twitter this Wednesday his demand: "$ 2,000 ASAP" (As Soon As Possible).
Along with Trump, Republican Senators Josh Hawley, of Missouri, and Marco Rubio, of Florida, have also pressured the party to act in the direction of the president.
