CLEVELAND — The drama continues 24 hours after President Trump threatened to veto the COVID-19 relief bill, saying he wanted more stimulus check money to go to Americans.
Democrats hope to bring the issue to the house floor on Thursday, but in the meantime, what about that check you thought you were going to get next week?
"It really is a disgrace,” said President Donald Trump in a video he posted to Twitter, Tuesday night, as he blasted the COVID-19 relief package.
It was a surprising move after Congress finally approved the $900 billion dollar bill that would give Americans making less than $75,000 dollars a year, $600 in direct stimulus payments.
President Trump threatened he wouldn't sign the bill unless congress made big changes.
“I'm asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple,” said President Trump.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that the government would begin to send out $600 checks to millions of Americans next week. If the President vetoes this bill, that won't happen.
And while $2,000 is certainly more than $600, some Northeast Ohioans worry about when they'll actually start receiving that money.
“$2,000 would be great but if that's gonna delay things longer, things have been delayed to long already,” said Greg Rottman, of Cleveland.
They're also growing frustrated with the partisan bickering.
“They're not paying attention to the people. The people need help and the politicians are being politicians,” said Nick Stefas, of Cleveland.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded that she's in favor of the increase and blamed Republicans for not agreeing to higher payments sooner, tweeting, "Democrats are ready to bring this to the floor this week by unanimous consent."
As for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, he's yet to publicly comment.
If the president does veto the bill, Congress can override him but time is running out with federal unemployment benefits expiring Saturday, Dec. 26, for some 12 million Americans.
“They need to get their act together and take care of us,” said Rottman.
It's also important to note that the COVID-19 relief package was attached to a larger government funding bill, so if President Trump does veto the bill, that would trigger a government shutdown come Monday.
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