Second Stimulus Check: Mitch McConnell Blocks US Senate Efforts for $2,000 COVID-19 Relief Payment

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked an effort to increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. The move came just a day after the House of Representatives approved the legislation in a 275 to 134 vote, with 44 Republicans joining the majority of Democrats, and after President Donald Trump requested Congress move to more than triple the amount of the payments included in the $900 billion stimulus relief bill he signed Sunday.

The Senate had initially been called back into session to override Trump’s veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer used the return to Capitol Hill to attempt to pass the change to the omnibus spending bill through a unanimous consent request on the Senate floor. As CNN notes, any senator can halt the passage of legislation this way, and McConnell objected to the request. Following McConnell’s objection, Sen. Bernie Sanders requested a vote on the larger payments after Wednesday’s vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, though McConnell again objected.

“Senate Democrats strongly support $2,000 checks. Even President Trump supports $2,000 checks,” Schumer said from the Senate floor. “There’s one question left today: Do Senate Republicans join with the rest of America in supporting $2,000 checks?”

McConnell, who has long sought to keep the price tag of any additional stimulus relief package at or below the $1 trillion mark, did not provide an explanation for his decision to block the vote. He did, however, note that the Senate was there to address three of the president’s complaints, election fraud, repealing liability protections for tech companies, and stimulus payments. It is possible legislation to increase the total amount of the second round of stimulus payments could be voted on at a later date.

Should a vote be held, at least 12 Republican senators would need to join all members of the Democratic caucus in order to cross the 60-vote threshold to approve the increase. Ahead of Tuesday’s session, a number of Republicans had voiced support for the larger payments, including Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are facing tight runoff elections next week in Georgia. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have also supported the $2,000 payments.