Trump assailed the bill's plan to provide $600 COVID checks to most Americans - insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.
A woman demonstrates during a protest for essential workers in California. File pic/AFP
Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight as President Donald Trump refused to sign an end-of-year COVID-19 relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his objections.
ADVERTISEMENT
The fate of the bipartisan package remained in limbo on Sunday as Trump continued to demand larger COVID-19 relief checks and complained about "pork" spending. Without the widespread funding provided by the massive measure, a government shutdown would occur when money runs out at 12.01 am on Tuesday.
"It's a chess game and we are pawns," said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stood to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signed the package into law or succeeded in his improbable quest for changes.
Trump assailed the bill's plan to provide $600 COVID checks to most Americans — insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.
"I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill," Trump tweeted while on holiday. "Also, stop the billions of dollars in 'pork.'" President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill immediately as the Saturday midnight deadline neared.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
