Congress Seeks to Avert Government Shutdown Amidst Christmas Day Bombings

The House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were blindsided this past week. They were led to believe that President Trump would sign the COVID-19 relief bill along with the omnibus spending package into law.

Simultaneously, Nashville, Tennessee, suffered a blow on Christmas Day with a vehicle bomb, with a possible pre-announcement from an RV, that damaged several downtown buildings and residences for blocks.

Internet and phone services are out in several states. The perpetrators gave a 15-minute warning before the bomb went off. There were no serious injuries; however, one person sustained hearing loss.

Trump’s Negotiations

“Made many calls and had meetings at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida. Why would politicians not want to give people $2000, rather than only $600? It wasn’t their fault; it was China. Give our people the money!” Trump tweeted.

It has been several days, and Congressional Leaders on Capitol Hill have been left scrambling. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are holding private talks. They are discussing emergency plans like overturning the vetoed bill with stopgap spending measures. That way, the government will continue to be funded until the next presidential inauguration.

After challenging, intensive negotiations, the GOP finally agreed to $600 in stimulus checks. The Democrats originally wanted $1,200. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and House Representative for New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fought for this legislature, which fell on deaf ears in the Senate.

Pelosi said that she inquired with the Republicans to determine how much the President wanted in relief payments. However, the Congressional Republicans declined to answer, stating they would only accept fiscally conservative stimulus checks around $500 and $600, preferably in the $500 range.

Foreign Governments Receiving Aid

Once aides delivered the deal to President Trump’s desk, he said he did not agree to the package, calling it a “disgrace.” Too much money was going to foreign governments. Like, $1.2 billion going to Egypt to possibly buy Russian military equipment. Israel, a relatively wealthy nation, would get $500,000,000, and Latin American countries, like Guatemala and El Salvador, would get similar amounts.

Like the Smithsonian Museum, several unopened American Institutions were scheduled to get several million dollars in the omnibus spending package. The FBI needs $56 million for renovations, and the reefer fish would need millions to replenish the lakes.

Meanwhile, during a time of desperation, American citizens would only receive $600 per household member to pay past due rent and car payments. It has been nine months since Congress passed the original CARES Act.

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, agreed with the President. She went to work and gathered support from her Democratic comrades. Through unanimous consent, she could pass the $2,000 stimulus check proposal for each taxpayer and $4000 for a married couple.

However, on Christmas Eve, that proposal was blocked by the House Republicans. No way would the majority of the Republican Congress pass this stimulus relief proposal, saying that it would add too much to the staggering deficit.

Trump as Trump

Now, Trump is being Trump. He is keeping you on your toes. You do not know what he will do next, and through all of this, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell remains silent. Trump mentioned from his Twitter account that:

“I saved at least 8 Republican Senators, including Mitch, from losing in the last Rigged — for President— Election. Now they — almost all — sit back and watch me fight against a crooked and vicious foe, the Radical Left Democrats. I will NEVER FORGET!”

McConnell has not been entirely in President Trump’s favor since he announced that former Vice-President Joe Biden is now the President-elect. The current Vice-President has not fought hard enough to overturn the rigged November 3 election.

On January 6, Trump expects Vice-President Mike Pence to keep the Senate from certifying the electoral college vote. But Pence’s role is symbolic; he cannot just overturn the election without risking a coup.

Other Republicans do not know what Trump will do either. Republican lawmakers urge President Trump to sign the $900 Billion COVID Relief package and the American Government spending package to keep America in business until September 2021. So far, Trump has already vetoed the Defense Spending bill.

Nonetheless, if nothing is done, the government will shut down on December 28. Trump could do a pocket veto and not sign the COVID relief package. This would be in stark contrast to the 2018 legislature that Trump threatened to veto but approved anyway because he was not incredibly happy with the bill.

The 2020 relief package would die, and the new Congress, which would be sworn in on January 3, 2021, would introduce another stimulus bill that Trump could sign into law. Perhaps, Trump may do a hard veto that Congress could overturn with a simple majority. Through all the devastation, Trump stated he is hard at work on behalf of the American people to get the relief they desperately deserve.