Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Monday came out in support of President Donald Trump’s call to boost the direct payments to Americans for coronavirus relief from $600 to $2,000.
Rubio said in a statement:
I agree with the President that millions of working class families are in dire need of additional relief, which is why I support $2,000 in direct payments to Americans struggling due to the pandemic. For months, Republicans tried to pass additional relief for workers, families, and small businesses — only to be rejected by Democrats at every turn. Remember, months ago Speaker Pelosi and Democrats rejected the Administration’s previous offer of $1,200 per adult and $1,000 per child. Thankfully, she’s finally stopped holding working families hostage.
While Rubio said that he supports an increase in payments, the Florida Republican expressed concern about the exploding national debt and the longterm impact it will have on the country. He stated:
I share many of my colleagues’ concern about the long-term effects of additional spending, but we cannot ignore the fact that millions of working class families across the nation are still in dire need of relief. Congress should quickly pass legislation to increase direct payments to Americans to $2,000.
Rubio also said he’s prepared to work with fellow lawmakers to reform Section 230, which protects tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube from being sued in U.S. courts over content posted to their platforms.
“I also stand ready to work with my colleagues to make much-needed changes to Section 230 and take steps to ensure the American people can once again have confidence in our elections,” he concluded.
President Donald Trump on Sunday night signed an omnibus funding bill and an associated $900 billion coronavirus relief bill as unemployment benefits expired and a government shutdown loomed.
The pandemic bill extends billions of dollars in coronavirus relief to millions of Americans.
“Good news on Covid Relief Bill,” the president tweeted late Sunday before the signing of the bill was announced. “More information to follow!”
Members of Congress had urged the president to sign the pandemic relief bill and a $1.4 trillion omnibus bill to fund the government through September after Trump shocked lawmakers last week by panning the relief bill as a “disgrace” and calling for direct payments to Americans to be increased from $600 in the bill to $2,000.
The stimulus and funding bills are tied together, and while Trump did not threaten to veto the measures, he did not sign them when expected on Christmas Eve.
In a statement on Sunday night, the president said he was sending back to Congress “a redlined version” of the coronavirus relief bil, insisting that those funds be removed.
The UPI contributed to this report.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.