House set to vote today on Trump's proposed $2,000 stimulus checks

The US House of Representatives is set to vote on Monday on President Trump's proposal to increase the direct stimulus payments from $600 to $2000.

On Sunday night, Trump signed the COVID relief bill and massive spending package passed by the House on Dec. 21, with the caveat that he wanted them to remove much of the excess spending in the bill, as well as increase direct payments. The bill extends unemployment benefits as well as supplies a one-time cash payment.

The Republican controlled Senate has misgivings about the $2,000 cash payout. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said, "I would be surprised if we dealt with it," if Democrats were able to pass it in the first place, according to Fox News.

Trump initially refused to sign the bill, issuing a video decrying the paltry sum for stimulus checks, as well as amounts for foreign aid pet projects. After a short Christmas break, during which time Trump tried to get his plans through, he signed the bill, but made these asks for changes.

While the House is scheduled to take up the cause of $2,000 for every American adult, they do not intend to decrease spending in other areas to make up the difference. Instead, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Nita Lowey said directly that Trump's request for "recissions" would not be addressed.

If passed, the bill would go to the Senate for approval, where Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a tweet that "The House will pass a bill to give Americans $2,000 checks. Then I will move to pass it in the Senate. No Democrats will object. Will Senate Republicans?"

Senate Republicans do not want to increase spending of the bill, which is already $2.3 trillion. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also fine with increasing the direct payments without decreasing spending in the rest of the bill.

The vote is scheduled for the House on Monday afternoon, and because of the way Pelosi has framed it, as a "suspension" measure, passage would have to be achieved through a supermajority vote, meaning that it would need two-thirds of the house to vote in favour.

Fox News reported that "a member of House GOP leadership [said] that the measure should secure two-thirds, but that sentiment is not necessarily universal."

In addition to the vote on the spending bill on Monday evening, the House will also vote on an override of Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. Trump vetoed this bill because it did not contain provisions to overturn Section 230, which provides liability protections to social media platforms.