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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Thursday The House bill increases stimulus payments to $ 2,000President Trump pushed alongside Democratic leaders, saying he was not targeted enough.

McConnell argued that giving $ 2,000 checks to high-income families who have not faced job losses is “socialism for the wealthy” … “an appalling way to help American families who are already struggling.”

Meanwhile, Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer asked the Senate to accept the bill passed by the House of Representatives to increase stimulus checks to $ 2,000, but McConnell objected.

“I’ll ask again for approval that the Senate has set a date to vote on a House bill to provide $ 2,000 checks to the American people,” Schumer said.

Schumer argued that the Senate should pass the House bill to increase the stimulus checks to $ 2,000, saying, “There is only one way and one way to pass the $ 2,000 checks before the end of the year and that is to pass the House bill … Either the Senate takes Up and passes the House bill, or Americans struggling won’t get $ 2,000 during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. “

“The Republican leader invented an excuse to prevent a clean vote, plus or minus, yes or no, on $ 2,000 of checks coming to the floor,” he said, adding that McConnell’s gambit to merge direct payments with other unrelated issues “aims to eliminate the possibility of checks shifting. Worth $ 2000 to act. “

McConnell, Tuesday, Legislation was introduced Which combined three Trump priorities – extended stimulus checks, the complete elimination of online liability protection and the investigation of alleged voter fraud – each of which are a prerequisite for Trump’s signature of the Covid relief and spending package earlier this week. Trump himself has never specified that these three elements should be linked together.

But McConnell said on Wednesday that the House bill “has no realistic way to quickly pass the Senate,” and said the Democrat-led effort missed what Trump had actually asked for.

Where do things stand: No date has been set for the vote on McConnell’s bill, or the legislation passed by the House of Representatives, and Republican aides say the 116th Congress is likely to end without any action on increasing direct payments.