CORONAVIRUS
Stimulus check second payment: was it passed and signed by Trump?
The HEROES Act was passed by the House of Representatives on Friday but Republicans believe it is DOA. Has Trump endorsed the bill or rejected it?
The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act was introduced last week by Nancy Pelosi, the house speaker. The latest coronavirus relief package could see eligible Americans receive a second stimulus check to help them cope with the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic but Republicans, including Donald Trump, are against the bill being passed as law.
The HEROES Act was then passed by the House of Representatives on Friday - winning the vote by margin of 208 to 199 - but before being signed into law, the bill must now get through the Senate, the upper chamber of the US Congress, and then receive the approval of Trump.
Trump has the power to veto the proposed legislation, a course of action which could then be overruled by the bill going back to Congress and achieving a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate.
As of now, the HEROES Act is considered ‘dead on arrival’ with Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate baulking at a $3-trillion overall package that also includes funding for state and local governments, hazard pay for frontline workers, rental assistance, student-debt relief and added unemployment-benefits. The act would also see millions of Americans receive a second stimulus check.
HEROES Act has "no chance of becoming law"
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell branding it a "partisan wish list with no chance of becoming law".
Trump is freshly enraged over Nancy Pelosi’s comments about him being morbidly obese said he considers Pelosi ‘a waste of time’.
Andrew Cuomo has turned up the heat on Trump and Republicans to pass the bill recently. “It’s about priorities, it’s about values,” he said. “Show the same consideration for the workers that you’ve showed for the corporations. That’s all I’m asking. This is not a partisan issue. It’s not Democrats or Republicans.”
“Every year, without saying a word, we give the federal government about $30 billion more through our fed taxes. Senator McConnell’s state takes $30 billion more every year than they pay in,” Cuomo said. “That’s the bailout. I haven’t heard him saying for the past 30 years, ‘We should only take out what we put in. We don’t want any handouts from New York. We don’t want any largesse from our northern neighbors in New York.’ He was just fine taking that bailout year after year after year.”
“An unserious product from an unserious majority,” said McConnel about the bill. He agrees with Trump's administration to veto the bill before it arrives at the Senate. Only one Republican supported the bill and it was Peter King of New York because the relief measure would provide for state and local governments.
Fourteen Democrats voted down the bill, many of them claiming the measure didn’t go far enough to provide relief for millions of Americans who are economically struggling due to the public health crisis. "We’re putting our offer on the table, we’re open to negotiation," Pelosi said on Thursday, acknowledging the long odds of the bill becoming law.