- Republican Sen. Pat Toomey urged President Donald Trump to sign the coronavirus relief bill, saying that “you don’t get everything you want even if you’re the President of the United States” in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”
- Following much-prolonged contention, lawmakers came to a consensus on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package last week.
- But President Trump did not sign the proposed coronavirus relief package before the end of Saturday, citing that the $600 direct payments to Americans must be increased to $2,000.
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Republican Sen. Pat Toomey urged President Donald Trump to sign the coronavirus relief bill, even if it may not meet all of his demands.
“You don’t get everything you want even if you are the President of the United States,” Sen. Pat Toomey said on “Fox News Sunday,” noting that “time is running out.”
Following much-prolonged contention, lawmakers came to a consensus on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package last week that included $600 direct payments for American adults and $300 unemployment insurance to span over 11 weeks, Business Insider’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig reported.
Sen. Toomey had initially argued to limit the Federal Reserve’s lending powers, which became a major sticking point before lawmakers reached a compromise on the bill’s language about this matter over a late-night call between Sen. Toomey and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Business Insider’s Tom Porter reported.
But, President Trump did not sign the proposed coronavirus relief package before the end of Saturday, citing that the $600 direct payments to Americans must be increased to $2,000. Democratic lawmakers pushed to increase the direct payments up to $2,000, but House Republicans pushed back against their move to do so, according to Business Insider’s Zeballos-Roig.
“I think what he ought to do is sign this bill and then make the case. Congress can pass another bill,” Toomey said. “But we’ve got a bill right now that his administration helped negotiate. I think we ought to get that done.”
The inability to pass the legislation has come at the cost of at least one week of unemployment benefits for millions of jobless Americans.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment on Sunday.
- Read more:
- Trump just cost jobless workers one week of federal unemployment assistance after he failed to sign the relief bill by midnight on Saturday
- Jobless benefits for about 14 million Americans expire, as Trump still refuses to sign the pandemic aid package containing $600 stimulus checks
- Trump asks Congress for $2,000 stimulus checks, criticizing COVID-19 relief package he was expected to sign
- Biden says Trump’s ‘abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences’ as the president neglects to sign bipartisan stimulus
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