President Donald Trump’s delay in signing the $900 billion in pandemic relief package ended Sunday night with $1.4 trillion for funding government agencies through September, but that is not the end of Trump’s displeasure with it.
The president said he will use the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to get Congress to remove “wasteful spending” and achieve his wishes for stimulus checks to be increased from $600 per person to $2,000 per person.
“I will sign the Omnibus and COVID package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Trump said in a statement that cited the “China Virus” for fault. “I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.”
That will not require changes and Democrats have vowed to use the House majority to maintain the bill as negotiated for months by both parties.
“The compromise bill is not perfect, but it will do an enormous amount of good for struggling Kentuckians and Americans across the country who need help now,” Senate Majority Leader and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell said. “I thank the President for signing this relief into law.”
Trump’s signage ended a momentary lapse in unemployment benefits. Trump is in line with Democrats who want a larger stimulus check for Americans, but the Republican-led Senate is expected to reject that change in a Monday vote.
“No Democrats will object,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tweeted. “Will Senate Republicans?”
It is not like this is the end of Trump’s wrangling with Congress in his final days. His veto to an annual Defense bill will go back before the House on Monday and, assumedly, the Senate on Tuesday.
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