No $2,000 Stimulus Check Bill as Senate Adjourns

The Senate adjourned on Friday without approving legislation to boost stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 for millions of Americans reeling from the effects of COVID-19.

As a consequence, the issue gets punted to the next Congress.

President Donald Trump had held up legislation and pushed for the stimulus increase, saying the checks contained in a $900 billion virus relief package he signed late last month were insufficient.

In an unusual political twist, he found himself on the same side as many Democrats in Congress, while fiscally conservative members of the Republican Party were opposed to providing larger sums. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proved a hurdle to passage of a measure with fatter checks, saying he was not keen on Dems' "rush to borrow half a trilloin dollars for universal cash giveaways," The Washington Times reported.

“They want to give people ravaged by the China Virus $600, rather than the $2000 which they so desperately need. Not fair, or smart!” the president said Friday on Twitter, not too long before the adjournment.

The Senate reconvenes Sunday with a new Congress.