President Trump has finally signed the massive $2.3 trillion combined COVID-19 relief and government funding bill for the next fiscal year, despite calling the bipartisan bill, which passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming veto-proof majorities, a “disgrace” a few days earlier on Twitter. Though signing the bill will avert a federal government shutdown which would’ve begun Monday, the bill was only signed after two critical unemployment provisions lapsed.
The massive 5,590-page bill is a combined COVID-19 relief and government funding bill for the 2021 fiscal year with over $2.3 trillion in provisions, includes many measures that will help provide temporary relief (though far from enough) for millions of Americans impacted economically by the coronavirus pandemic. These include a moratorium on evictions, an extra $300 per week in unemployment benefits on top of state unemployment benefits, $600 stimulus checks for most people, increased funding for various relief programs, and money for the Paycheck Protection Program, a popular small-business relief program.
In addition to that, it provides all the departments of the federal government with money needed to run the government until the end of the 2021 fiscal year in September 2021. The signature from President Trump comes less than two days before a federal government shutdown, the end on the moratorium on evictions, and other major relief programs would have expired.
Unfortunately, it came after unemployment aid would lapse, guaranteeing a lapse in relief for the millions of people suffering from the pandemic. Those in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program will probably not receive payment for this week. Also, even though the bill extends a $300 additional federal unemployment aid for 11 weeks, it will probably only last 10 weeks because states can’t provide benefits for weeks that start before the bill is authorized, and the week has started on Sunday already.
The delay was ultimately caused by President Trump himself. Having sat out of the heated bipartisan discussions on relief that went on all summer and fall, after the bill was finally passed by both houses of Congress via overwhelming veto-proof majorities last week, the president suddenly demanded the amount given in the stimulus checks be increased from $600 to $2,000 and criticized other provisions that were not related to the pandemic. He also complained about the size of the funding bill, claiming the amount spent was too much.
Trump said he would request Congress rescind some funding provisions in the bill, but with President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in less than a month, it is highly unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled House.
Even though House Democrats have pushed to vote for $2,000 stimulus checks, and plan to schedule a vote on Monday, it is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Republicans have resisted increasing relief to Americans, claiming concerns about increasing the budget deficit (never mind the fact that these are the exact same people pushing for massive corporation tax cuts and tax cuts for the rich). And although Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on the president to “immediately call on congressional Republicans to end their obstruction” and support the measure to increase check size, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made no mention of the provision in a statement applauding the president for signing the bill. Other congressional Republicans have also been opposed to larger checks.
Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it! https://t.co/Th4sztrpLV
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 23, 2020
The bill was flown to Florida for the President to sign, where he is currently spending the winter holidays. The bill was previously set up to be signed on Christmas Eve, but the plan was scrapped last-minute. It is currently unknown exactly why there was a delay, but CNN reported that a source said Trump had “changed his mind.”
Had Trump vetoed the bill, it is likely Congress would override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote. The bill passed the House 359 to 53 and passed the Senate 92 to six.
With the bill now being completely passed, it is expected that Americans will start receiving benefits by next week.
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