As American wait for an update on the next round of stimulus checks, its’s reported that Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to pass President Joe Biden‘s new coronavirus relief bill in two weeks. According to political journalist Jake Sherman, Pelosi held a Zoom call with donors on Thursday and told them her hopes. However, Sherman added that it will likely not be until mid-February that the bill can be voted on, as the “Senate isn’t yet organized.”
Sherman then commented on the notion of a showdown on the issue between new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and his predecessor Mitch McConnell (R-KY). He surmised that McConnell will likely push Schumer as far as he can power-wise, but knows Schumer “can’t give in on this, not in his first showdown as majority leader.” He added, “The harder McConnell pushes, in fact, the more it helps Schumer by making McConnell look unreasonable. This becomes more true the longer it goes on, so McConnell has to judge this carefully.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
This is news: @SpeakerPelosi told donors on a Zoom call Thurs that she wanted to pass Biden’s Covid relief bill in two weeks using budget reconciliation. But Pelosi has to wait until mid-Feb now because the Senate isn’t yet organized.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 22, 2021
The chances of a new stimulus bill being passed soon are slim, as the Senate has a lot of demanding issues on its plate. One is holding hearings on Biden’s cabinet nominations, and another is the impeachment of former President Donald Trump. On Friday, Pelosi issued a statement announcing that “the article of impeachment for incitement of insurrection by Donald Trump will be delivered to the Senate on Monday, January 25.” The former president is accused of inciting the Capitol riot during a speech he delivered ahead of a pro-Trump mob storming the building.
“We are respectful of the Senate’s constitutional power over the trial and always attentive to the fairness of the process, noting that the former president will have had the same amount of time to prepare for trial as our Managers,” she later added. “Our Managers are ready to begin to make their case to 100 Senate jurors through the trial process. Exactly one week after the attack on the Capitol to undermine the integrity of our democracy, a bipartisan vote of the House of Representatives passed the article of impeachment, which is our solemn duty to deliver to the Senate.”
