Send a stand-alone bill for stimulus checks and he will sign it! That is the message that President Donald Trump is sending to Congress as plans for a broader stimulus bill have basically fallen apart in recent days.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump said, “If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?” He tagged his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Trump announced on Tuesday that he was cutting off talks with Congress after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected a $1.6 trillion proposal from the White House. “I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.”

President Trump and the House Speaker continue to be literally trillions of dollars apart. Democrats continue to signal that they want to spend, spend, spend, as they believe that any larger stimulus bill would need to be in excess of $2 trillion. The bill the House passed in May hovered around $3.4 trillion, but it never made it past the Senate. The slimmed-down version passed this week was near $2.2 trillion.

With the president’s latest call for smaller bills to be approved, it is clear he feels a more piecemeal approach to economic relief is the answer.

Add comment