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Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C. backed President Trump’s call for $ 2,000 stimulus checks on Friday after the Senate Majority Leader and other Senate Republicans blocked a last-minute bid for larger direct payments in the latest plan relief against coronaviruses.
Trump and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have called on the Senate to approve direct payments of $ 2,000, up from the $ 600 that is expected to be dispersed from this week. But Mitch McConnell and other Republicans scuttled efforts for a stand-alone vote before the end of the current session of Congress.
GOP-LED SENATE BLOCKS AGAINST $ 2,000 STIMULUS VERIFICATION VOTE
“With all due respect to my fellow Republicans, a direct payment of $ 2,000 for struggling individuals and families is not socialism,” Graham wrote on Twitter. “In my opinion, it is necessary in the times in which we live”.
McConnell and his allies argued that a proposed increase in the size of direct payments would further inflate the national debt and send money to American families without an urgent need. He introduced a bill earlier this week that would tie any vote on the $ 2,000 checks to a package that includes a repeal of Section 230 and the creation of an Election Integrity Commission, among other initiatives backed by the GOP.
McConnell doubled his stance on Friday while blocking last-minute attempts to call a stand-alone vote on the checks, arguing that the package described by prominent Democrats “is essentially socialism for the rich.”
Graham rejected the position of his Republican colleague.
“Going from $ 600 to $ 2,000 doesn’t make you a socialist,” Graham added. “Mr. President, continue to fight for the suffering American people. Insist on an independent vote.”
The Republican Senate leadership has drawn the president’s ire after the upper house voted to overturn Trump’s veto on the National Defense Authorization Act. Trump called the vote “pathetic” and once again targeted Republicans for their inability to support larger out-of-pocket payments.
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“Now they want to give people ravaged by the Chinese virus $ 600, rather than the $ 2,000 they desperately need. It is neither fair nor smart! ” Trump tweeted.
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