McConnell Unveils His Own Bill For $2,000 Stimulus Checks
Michael Cantrell
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has officially introduced his own version of a bill to increase $600 stimulus checks to $2,000Â for the coronavirus relief package.
The bill also includes two other big priorities for President Trump.
The legislation in question would repeal Section 230, which provides liability protection for online platforms — like certain social media companies for example — and would create a committee on the Election Assistance Commission to study the issue of election integrity.
“During this process, the president highlighted three additional issues of national significance he would like to see Congress tackle together,” McConnell said, before listing off the president’s grievances about the amount of the stimulus payment, Section 230 and the election.
“Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together,” McConnell said. “This week, the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.”
The remarks were not a firm promise that any of these issues would receive a vote or that McConnell would push particularly hard for them. And McConnell’s bill itself is unlikely to gain the support of the 60 senators that would be needed to break a filibuster. Some Republicans, especially the handful who have already said they favor $2,000 stimulus checks, would likely back the bill, but most Democrats probably will not vote for it due to the other issues McConnell’s bill addresses.
The bill could enable GOP senators that would like to be able to say they voted in favor of raising stimulus checks to $2,000 to do so while also protecting the top priorities of the caucus, which has been opposed to the increase.
Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia have both stated they are in favor of the increase, just days away from the runoff elections that will determine whether or not the GOP maintains control of the Senate.
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