President Trump called on Congress again Wednesday to approve increased stimulus checks of $2,000, a day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked Democrats from approving the payments quickly.
“$2000 ASAP!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The House passed a measure on Monday that would increase the direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000. But Mr. McConnell moved on Tuesday to link any increase in the payments to a repeal of liability protections for Big Tech companies and the creation of a commission to investigate election fraud, two other requests of the president.
Democrats say the Senate Republican leader’s strategy will effectively kill the effort to boost the payments, because the current Congress ends this weekend.
Many Republican senators don’t want the payments, citing a projected increase in the deficit of $460 billion and saying the relief isn’t targeted to those who need it most.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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