Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) has called on President Trump to veto any new coronavirus relief package that doesn’t include checks to Americans.
Negotiations for a new round of coronavirus relief have been stalled since the summer, with House Democrats pushing for a $2 trillion bill while Senate Republicans have generally attempted to keep the price tag below $1 billion. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said on Friday that she would be willing to pass a $908 billion relief bill, and negotiations are continuing amid the lame duck period of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The $908 billion bill does not include relief checks for Americans. Hawley said he called the president on Saturday to urge a veto of any relief bill that doesn’t include relief checks.
“I said, ‘I think it’s vital that any relief include direct payments, and I’m not gonna vote for it if it doesn’t.’ And I also urged him to veto any bill that did not have direct payments in it,” Hawley told Politico. “[Trump] asked a number of questions about the state of play of the different proposals. And I think it’s fair to say that he was surprised at the direction that some of these were headed.”
Hawley also discussed the issue with Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who like Hawley opposes legislation that does not send out direct payments to Americans.
“Getting the $1,200 direct payments to workers during this unprecedented crisis should be a slam dunk. [Senator] Hawley seems to understand that, and [Senator] Sanders will talk to anyone to get this done,” Faiz Shakir, Sanders’s former campaign manager, told Politico.
Congress is currently attempting to pass a one-week funding stopgap bill by Friday to avoid a government shutdown and give the legislature more time to hash out a budget and potential relief package.