Who’s Blocking $2,000 Stimulus Checks? The Republican Senate Majority
By Senator Charles E. Schumer
Throughout this pandemic, working Americans have taken it on the chin. Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Nearly 26 million had difficulty putting food on the table in the past week, per a US Census study in early December. By January, 12 million Americans will owe an average of nearly $6,000 in back rent and utility payments. Communities of color and the poorest Americans are bearing the brunt of the current economic crisis, the worst in seventy-five years.
As Americans brace themselves for the hardest and darkest stretch of the coronavirus pandemic, the quickest way to help struggling Americans is to send some of their tax dollars right back into their pockets in the form of direct stimulus checks. For weeks, Democrats have pushed for generous direct payments to American families. Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues were only willing to agree to $600 checks in the most recent coronavirus-relief legislation, a pittance compared to the deep hole that many working families have fallen into.
So Democrats are fighting to increase the amount of the stimulus checks to $2,000 per adult.
Here’s the good news. Over the last few days, the idea of $2,000 checks has bridged the massive political divide here in Washington. On Monday, an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives passed legislation to approve immediate, $2,000 stimulus checks. Senate Democrats, too, strongly support $2,000 checks. Even President Trump supports $2,000 checks.
Most importantly, the public supports it as well. A recent Data for Progress poll showed that nearly 80% of likely voters approve of $2,000 in direct financial support, including a majority of Republicans and Democrats who are “strongly” in favor.
But here’s the bad news. When I went to the floor to ask the Senate to take up and pass the House bill to provide $2,000 checks, Majority Leader McConnell objected. It is only the latest example of how out-of-touch Senate Republicans are when it comes to helping struggling Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
Imagine what an extra $2,000 could do for a majority of these Americans. It could mean the difference between families having groceries for a few extra weeks or going hungry. The difference between paying rent or facing eviction. It could buy precious time for tens of millions of people as the vaccine makes its way across the country.
But some Republican Senators object to these checks...because it might add to the national deficit. These are the same Republicans who added $2 trillion to the deficit in order to give massive tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations, and who fought to include a tax break for three-martini lunches in the most recent coronavirus-relief bill. But now that the economy is on life support, as Americans are queueing up on bread lines and filing for unemployment, and just as a Democratic President is about to take office: all of the sudden the deficit-scolds in the Republican party are back.
Right now, the only thing standing between Americans and $2,000 survival checks is the Republican Senate majority. But Democrats will not stop fighting. I have demanded that Leader McConnell allow a simple, yes-or-no vote on the $2,000 checks before Congress adjourns for the session. We need the American people need to put pressure on the Republican-led Senate to pass $2,000 stimulus checks before the end of the year.
Charles E. Schumer is the Senate Democratic Leader.