Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to hold a stand-alone vote on Democrats’ push for $2,000 COVID-19 stimulus checks after the new Congress begins on January 3.
Graham told “Fox and Friends” that he believed the House’s bill increasing the $600 checks to $2000, a measure Trump supports, would pass the Senate, but that there would be “no way” to get a vote on it before the current Congress ends this week.
“I’d like a stand-alone vote in the new Congress on the $2,000 check,” the senator said.
Graham noted Trump’s two other demands besides the relief payment increase: A repeal of Section 230, which shields social media platforms from liability, and the creation of a commission that would boost the President’s false claims of mass voter fraud.
“I’m urging Senator McConnell to give a stand-alone vote in the new Congress after January 3 on all three measures,” Graham said.
“And I would predict that if you had a stand-alone vote on the $2,000 check, it’s better than 50-50 it would pass,” he added.
The South Carolina Republican’s proposal marks a break from McConnell’s attempt to poison pill the stimulus check increase by tying it to a package with a Section 230 repeal and the commission, two conditions Democrats are unlikely to approve.
McConnell has shot down Senate Democrats’ efforts to bring the bill to a vote on its own this week, claiming on Wednesday that there was “no realistic path to quickly pass” it.
On Tuesday, Graham said he supported Trump’s call for $2,000 checks, the commission, and the repeal but did not call for a stand-alone vote. He also asserted that the relief payment increases would only pass if Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) survived the Georgia runoffs on January 5.
Watch Graham’s comments on Thursday below:
Graham calls on McConnell to hold a stand-alone vote on $2,000 relief checks when the new Congress begins on January 3 pic.twitter.com/0yJtQAElru
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 31, 2020
