Marjorie Taylor Greene delays final vote on $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill claiming ‘no need to enslave’ Americans with more debt as House prepares to pass sweeping package that will send out $1,400 direct checks
Marjorie Taylor Greene delayed on Wednesday the House taking up the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, claiming she wanted to adjourn to give her colleagues more time to consider 'enslaving' Americans with more debt.
'This Congress is ramming through unbelievable things at a rapid pace,' the Georgia Republican representative lamented. 'This must be stopped.'
She continued: 'We have to give pause and consideration to what we're doing. This is a waste of money and a complete waste of time. Reopening America is a much better way to go.'
'Mr. Speaker, I ask for a motion to adjourn,' she demanded. Despite a resounding 'no' in the chamber, Greene requested a roll call vote, which will delay consideration of the legislation.
The House met Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. to take up the massive American Rescue Plan marked up by the Senate over the weekend.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene delayed the final vote on the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill on Wednesday by forcing a roll call vote on a motion to adjourn so her colleagues could 'pause' and consider the legislation further
'This Congress is ramming through unbelievable things at a rapid pace. This must be stopped,' she demanded during floor remarks, adding: 'There is no need to enslave the American people... in more debt'
The House will take up Wednesday the Senate's version of the massive $1.9 trillion coroanvirus relief package
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived at the Capitol Wednesday morning as she prepares to deliver President Joe Biden a massive win on Day 50 of his presidency
The bill is expected to pass – despite slashing the weekly unemployment benefits boost from $400 to $300 – delivering President Joe Biden a major win on Day 50 day of his presidency.
The final vote, however, could happen later than expected as Greene delayed consideration with her demand for a roll call vote on a motion to adjourn.
'There is no need to enslave the American people, our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren and generations going forward in more debt,' she said.
When passed, the bill will be delivered to Biden's desk, and the president has vowed to sign tit immediately when he receives it.
This means direct checks in the amount of $1,400 could begin distribution as early as this week.
'As soon as I get it,' Biden told reporters when asked when he would sign the bill.
The lower chamber needs to vote on the version of the bill passed midday Saturday by the Senate after an all-night vote-a-rama Friday night. It is expected that the Democrat-led House will accept the changes – despite a few changes they may not support.
The House is convening at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday to take up the sweeping legislation.
In particular progressive Democrats are not happy with the boosted unemployment benefits number being reduced by $100 per week and the Senate deciding to change the salary eligibility requirements for direct checks.
President Joe Biden said he will sign the American Rescue Plan as soon as it hits his desk – meaning $1,400 direct checks could be sent out as early as this week
The House is expected to pass the bill Wednesday despite it reducing an extension in boosted unemployment benefits by $100 per week
Republicans proposed a series of amendments to the legislations that were rejected by the slim Democrat majority Senate – but a few provisions snuck in there with the help of centrist Democrat Joe Manchin, who says he wants more bipartisanship in the federal legislature.
With a 50-50 split Senate, any Democratic member essentially has veto power over legislation in which they do not agree, giving a lot of power Manchin, arguably the most conservative Democrat in the upper chamber.
While those who associated their bank account with their tax filings will receive the $1,400 checks by direct deposit, those who opt for a physical check will not see President Biden's name on them.
Former President Donald Trump wanted his name on the stimulus checks that were sent out to Americans last year, which held up the first round of payments as the Internal Revenue Service had to reprint the physical checks.
'Well, we are doing everything in our power to expedite the payments and not delay them, which is why the president's name will not appear on the memo line of this round of stimulus checks,' said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday. 'This is not about him. This is about the American people getting relief.'
It took more than two weeks for the IRS to begin sending the first $1,200 electronic payments to taxpayers last April after Trump signed the $2.3 trillion CARES Act relief package into law on March 27, including a three-week lag for paper checks, after changes were made to print Trump's name on it.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden's name will not be on the fresh round of $1,400 checks. 'This is not about him. This is about the American people getting relief,' she told reporters Tuesday
Former President Donald Trump had his name inked on the stimulus checks that were given out to Americans as part of the first COVID-19 stimulus last spring, which delayed the payments for three weeks
Trump was running for re-election at the time.
The White House has been promising that the $1,400 checks will start going out this month.
The White House estimates nearly 160 million households are expected to get payments – but Republicans are concerned that certain people will unjustly receive the checks.
The relief bill notably does not exempt incarcerated people, people with non-citizens spouses or relatives of those who died in 2020 from receiving the payments.
Psaki said Tuesday that Treasury officials are 'working to ensure more people can get them [checks] electronically,' which should expedite the process.
She also said that the checks wouldn't be delayed so Biden's name could be displayed on the paper versions.
'He did not think that was a priority or a necessary step,' Psaki said.
The U.S. government could start delivering $1,400 as early as this week, compared with the lag of several weeks experienced in April 2020.
The bill also includes an expanded child tax credit of up to $3,000 per child, or $3,600 for each kid under the age of six.
The IRS will pay part of this in monthly installments of $250 or $300 from July through December, adding a benefits distributor role to the revenue collection agency's responsibilities.
The IRS, which has more than 70,000 employees, handles over 190 million individual and corporate tax returns a year, but it has been hobbled by budget cuts and obsolete technology in recent years.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, as the COVID-19 relief package is called, includes $1.46 billion for the agency, which is running into its busiest season, as the April 15 deadline for individual taxpayers approaches.
A U.S. Treasury spokeswoman said the Biden administration's priority was to speed relief to Americans, adding: 'Treasury stands ready to implement the direct payment check program as soon as the American Rescue Plan is passed.'
Making one-off payments to those who regularly file tax returns should not be a struggle for the IRS, said Janet Holtzblatt, senior fellow with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
'They have already ironed out many of the snafus that slowed the previous rollouts,' Holtzblatt said. 'The IRS continues to surprise me in its ability to step up to these challenges.'
The year-end $900 billion stimulus was signed by Trump on Dec. 27, a week after Congress passed it.
The IRS began sending electronic payments out two days later.
Biden left the IRS plenty of wiggle room after the Senate passed the Democratic-backed bill on Saturday, saying his plan 'would get checks out the door this month.'
But Democrats in Congress, including Senator Bob Casey, were more optimistic on Sunday.
Payments will go out 'in very short order,' Casey said. 'The Treasury Department is prepared for this. They've been dealing with this issue since last March.'
Another key priority for the next round will be signing up more people for electronic payments, including those earning too little to file tax returns or those not getting other federal benefits, who were left out of past payment rounds.
Homeless people and those without internet access will be difficult to reach, but Holtzblatt said community outreach groups that were shut down last spring due to the pandemic could now provide some help in signing them up.
President Donald Trump, who was running for re-election last year, wanted his name written on the paper checks that went out to Americans, giving them stimulus funds during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic
The child tax credit changes are a vast undertaking, tax experts say. All taxpayers earning under $200,000 with children 17 or under living with them at least half the year can claim the credit.
Biden's bill increases the credit to $3,000, from $2,000, for each child aged 6 to 17 for parents earning under $75,000 each and allows the monthly installments to supplement incomes and reduce child poverty.
Nina Olson, executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights in Washington and the IRS' national taxpayer advocate from 2001 to 2019, said a key challenge would be determining whether the children actually lived with their parents, which could hold up the payments.
The IRS also needs to change its culture to reflect a changing mission, she said.
'The IRS needs to recognize that it's not just a revenue collector, but it is a social benefits administrator, and it needs to staff itself and organize its training accordingly,' Olson said.
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