The bipartisan stimulus package being negotiated in Congress is now facing resistance from both the left and right over the fact that the bill will reportedly not contain direct payments to Americans.
On Friday, Joe Biden backed the bipartisan $908 billion plan despite objections from progressives that the bill is inadequate over the lack of payments.
Now the bill is also receiving resistance -- on the exact same policy grounds -- from conservative Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
"Sen. Josh Hawley is not happy that the leading coronavirus proposals lack another round of direct payments to Americans — and he’s taking his case straight to President Donald Trump. The Missouri Republican lobbied Trump to veto any coronavirus aid bill that does not contain a second tranche of checks to Americans in a phone call on Saturday. And Hawley said the president listened intently as he flew home on Air Force One from a rally in Georgia," Politico reported Monday.
When urging Trump to veto the bill, Hawley reportedly told Trump, "I think it's vital that any relief include direct payments, and I'm not gonna vote for it if it doesn't."
“We had a good conversation about it. And, you know, a pretty thorough conversation. He asked a number of questions about the state of play of the different proposals. And I think it's fair to say that he was surprised at the direction that some of these were headed,” Hawley said.
