A shocking move by President Trump tonight has turned out to be checkmate for the president. He signed the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill that includes $600 stimulus checks for most Americans. The interesting thing is he has invoked the ‘Impoundment Control Act of 1974’ that allows  changes to the bill, including increasing payments from $600 to $2,000 (see below).

The nearly 5,600-page bill passed the House and Senate a few hours after its text was released. You can bet not one person in Congress even read the bill.

The bill authorizes direct checks of $600 for people earning up to $75,000 per year, and people who make over $95,000 get nothing.

President Trump said via a statement released tonight that Congress  would vote tomorrow on a separate bill to “increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000.”

Josh Hawley tweeted out to say “Let’s vote” after the news of the important changes in the bill:

The bill creates a new $300 weekly unemployment supplement and replenishes a forgivable loan program for small businesses. It also creates new criminal penalties, including prison time for violating copyright laws with online streaming. 

The bill is still disappointing because of the billions in pork, including foreign aid. President Trump is sending a stern recommendation that Congress must omit the foreign giveaways:

Trump says he’s signing the stimulus bill “with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed.” “I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item… insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.”

The left is saying Congress doesn’t have to change anything President Trump has requested, so we’ll see how this plays out.

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