More than half of the House Republican caucus readily supported President Donald Trump in his last-ditch — and ultimately failed — attempt to overturn the November election through the Supreme Court earlier this month, but the president’s endorsement this week of $2,000 relief checks for desperate Americans was a bridge too far for the GOP.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) noted that fact with disgust Thursday, shortly after House Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to pass $2,000 direct payments by unanimous consent.
“Republicans in Washington are happy to cheer on Trump’s bogus conspiracy theories on non-existent election fraud, but refuse to support him when it comes to providing a $2,000 direct payment to working-class Americans facing economic desperation,” the Vermont senator tweeted. “Pathetic.”
Earlier this month, as Common Dreams reported, more than 100 House Republicans signed on to a Texas-led lawsuit that sought what one analyst described as “the single biggest incident of voter nullification in American history.” The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit just days after it was filed.
“House Republicans are spending critical time when people are starving and small businesses are shuttering trying to overturn the results of our election,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said just before the Supreme Court rejected the suit.
On Thursday morning, despite the president’s demand for larger checks, the House Republican leadership refused to allow Democrats to advance an amendment that would increase the direct payments in the newly passed coronavirus relief bill from $600 to $2,000. House Democrats plan to force a floor vote on the direct payments on Monday.
“House Democrats today offered to send you $2,000 stimulus checks. Republicans rejected it,” Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) tweeted Thursday. “In May, we voted to send you $1,200 stimulus checks. Republicans rejected that too. The Republican Party does not give a damn about you.”
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