$2,000 Stimulus Checks: Pelosi Asks Republicans for Support in Order to Avoid Trump Veto

The House and the Senate passed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill on Monday. Although, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump voiced his criticisms for the bill and, in particular, the amount that it allocates for stimulus checks (under the bill, eligible Americans would receive a $600 check). The president said that he would support $2,000 direct payments to Americans, an aspect that Democrats are fully on board with. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi even asked for Republicans’ support on this measure, as it requires unanimous approval in order to pass.

On Wednesday, journalist Jake Sherman posted a message that Pelosi sent out to her Democratic colleagues regarding the possibility of increasing the amount of the direct payments to $2,000. Her letter began, “Just when you think you have seen it all, last night, the President said that he would possibly veto the bicameral agreement negotiated between Republicans and Democrats. He said he would do so, unless the economic impact payments were increased to $2,000. In the bipartisan negotiations, Leader Schumer and I repeatedly asked Republicans what would be the highest number the President would accept for direct payments, and they responded with Sphinx-like silence. In negotiations, they would never go above $600 and in some cases, proposed $500.”

Pelosi went on to write that the Democrats are prepared to go on the Floor in order to ask for unanimous consent to bring up a standalone bill to increase the payments. She said that in order to do this, she would need an agreement from the Republican leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy. Pelosi went on to say that if the president is serious about increasing the economic impact payments, then he should call upon McCarthy to agreed to the Democrats’ request for unanimous consent.

NBC News previously reported that Democrats would seek to pass a measure for direct $2,000 payments by unanimous consent on Thursday, Christmas Eve. At that point in time, the House will be in a pro forma session, meaning that it would only take one lawmaker to prevent the passage of this measure. In her letter to colleagues, Pelosi wrote that she and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer were awaiting word from McCarthy to see whether he would reject or accept their request for a unanimous consent vote.