WASHINGTON — Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is calling for the support of President Donald Trump’s request that the recently passed stimulus bill be modified to increase the amount of direct payments to Americans from $600 per person to $2,000 per person.
Trump announced on Twitter Tuesday night that the stimulus bill passed by an overwhelming majority of Congress on Monday was not suitable, and he called on Congress to dramatically increase the amount of direct aid to individuals.
The bill includes $600 direct payments for Americans making less than $75,000 per year. Trump called on Congress to increase the amount of direct payments to $2,000 per person.
"I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation," Trump said, "and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package and maybe that administration will be me."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2020
On Wednesday morning, Brown took to Twitter to address Trump seeking $2,000 payments for Americans, calling for his legislators to “get this done.”
Brown called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the tweet, asking if he’ll take action to increase the amount of direct payments to Americans or if he will “continue standing in the way of bigger stimulus checks for Americans.”
I’ve been calling for $2,000 checks since March. President Trump’s on board - so let’s get this done.
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) December 23, 2020
Is Mitch McConnell going to act or continue standing in the way of bigger stimulus checks for Americans?https://t.co/b4HETnszOc
News 5 reached out to Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman for comment on the president’s tweets about $2,000 direct payments. A representative for Portman provided a news release from Monday praising the COVID relief bill as it was passed by the House and Senate, but that release did address the president’s demand for increased direct payments, or the $600 direct payments initially approved by Congress.
In May, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey introduced legislation that aimed to provide a monthly $2,000 to Americans that ultimately went nowhere. Other legislatures have also called for similar amounts in direct payments, but those efforts did not come to fruition either.
The recently-passed bill did so with a veto-proof majority in Congress. Trump has not officially vetoed the bill yet, and Congress will have to wait for Trump to veto it before voting to override the veto. But because there is a new Congress being sworn in on January 3, the House and Senate would have to override the veto by then, or else start the process all over again.
Trump has 10 days from Monday to veto the bill before it is enacted.
RELATED: Trump says he does not support the bipartisan stimulus bill passed by Congress
