Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Wednesday that he will not split apart a for vote for three demands — $2,000 stimulus direct payments, the repeal of Section 230, and the creation of an election fraud commission — made by President Donald Trump over the weekend.
“Here’s the deal: the Senate is not going to split apart the three issues that President Trump linked together just because Democrats are afraid to address two of them,” McConnell stated in his Senate floor remarks. “The Senate’s not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats’ rich friends who don’t need the help.”
McConnell’s remarks come after the House of Representatives approved legislation to boost direct payments from $600 to $2000 as part of the $2.3 trillion package passed in recent days. On Tuesday, the Kentucky Republican blocked the House-approved bill from reaching the Senate floor, while Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who is not seeking re-election, block a vote Wednesday.
McConnell on Tuesday introduced a bill with the trio of demands made by the president.
Meanwhile, the federal government has begun mailing out $600 stimulus checks for most Americans.
The $600 amount was part of the $900 billion coronavirus relief package negotiated in Congress for months and signed by President Donald Trump on Sunday.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said late Tuesday that the government has already begun sending the money into Americans’ accounts, via direct deposit, and that paper checks would begin to go out Wednesday.
The direct infusions of cash will continue to be deposited and sent through the mail into next week, Mnuchin said.
The UPI contributed to this report.