News broke Wednesday morning that congressional House Democrats have finally yielded to President Trump’s demands to increase the size of stimulus checks to the American people from $600 to $2,000, with Speaker Pelosi receiving praise from Democrats for floating a $2,000 bill that will be up for vote on Thursday Dec. 24.
What many Pelosi supporters and media outlets have failed to note, however, is that the House Speaker chose to require unanimous consent for the bill, meaning only one neoliberal Republican or Democrat objection would be needed to stop the legislation dead in its tracks.
The move may be calculated to achieve the dual objectives of sidestepping the President’s demand for $2,000 checks, while at the same time providing an excuse for Democrats to blame the bill’s failure on Republicans and by extension, the President himself.
However, many pundits on both sides of the aisle were not fooled by the slippery unanimous consent requirement.
Anyone celebrating Pelosi should pay closer attention as usual. She’s calling for unanimous consent, which means a single House no vote can kill the $2000 checks. There’s no reason she can’t call a simple roll call for the amendment. She wants it to fail. Business as usual.
— ☭
Anthony MD, Dr. of Thuganomics
☭ (@Move_Left) December 23, 2020
If Pelosi actually wants us to get a $2k stimulus why would she ask for unanimous consent?
— Hillcrest Card Company (@HillcrestCardCo) December 23, 2020
If Pelosi actually wants us to get a $2k stimulus why would she ask for unanimous consent?
— Hillcrest Card Company (@HillcrestCardCo) December 23, 2020
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has indicated that House Republicans will not agree to unanimously pass Pelosi’s bill, which appears to have been introduced in a symbolic effort one-up the President in the eyes of the media without actually intending to raise the amount in the stimulus checks.
President Trump kept his promise to veto the bloated National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, which would have given billions to foreign powers while providing a paltry $600 for Americans in the enclosed “COVID relief bill”:
National File can confirm that President Donald Trump followed through on his Tuesday night promise to veto the National Defense Authorization Act if it was not updated to cut foreign spending bloat and place more revenue in the hands of the American people, using his lawful presidential powers to block the bill on Wednesday.
“My Administration has taken strong actions to help keep our Nation safe and support our service members,” Trump stated in a written message to the House of Representatives. “I will not approve this bill, which would put the interests of the Washington, D.C. establishment over those of the American people.”
Anti-Trump Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have indicated that they will push back against the President by forcing the highly unpopular NDDA through via a veto override vote.