President Trump is demanding that Congress amends the just-passed COVID-19 relief bill to increase stimulus checks to $2,000 per person and $4,000 for couples, and get rid of “wasteful” items. In a Twitter video Tuesday night, the president declared, in part, “Send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package. And maybe that administration will be me.” Trump is apparently confusing the $1.4 trillion spending bill, which funds the government through 2021, with the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill. The two were passed together as one package, but nearly everything the president complains about in the video is related to the spending deal, and not the COVID-19 relief bill.
Both the House and Senate passed the coronavirus relief bill Monday night after months of contentious stop-and-start negotiations. It includes payments of $600 to qualifying Americans, with additional payments based on marital and dependent status. The bill also provides $300 per week in enhanced federal unemployment benefits through March 14, 2021. Benefits passed in March under the CARES Act are set to expire Saturday.
In order to amend the relief bill, both chambers of Congress would have to unanimously vote to do so — which appears unlikely, given the heavy lift required to arrive at the current bill – although Democrats, who wanted more than the $600 of relief, have already said they’re willing to sign off on more. While the current bill passed with enough votes to override a presidential veto, Trump could employ a so-called “pocket veto,” refusing to act on the bill or return it to lawmakers before the expiration of the current 116th Congress. That would make it impossible for Congress to hold a veto override vote, and would end any hope of COVID-19 relief for Americans before the 117th Congress convenes January 3.