An hour before signing the bill, Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago resort that he had “good news on Covid Relief Bill.” He is vacationing at the Florida resort for the Christmas holiday. In fact, because Trump waited to sign the bill until Sunday night, millions won’t receive benefits this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) already attempted to increase direct payments in the COVID-19 relief bill from $600 to $2,000 — as Trump demanded — on Christmas Eve, but Republicans blocked the attempt. CFRB estimates the aid in the COVID-19 relief bill would increase income in the first three months of 2021 between 11 and 13% above pre-pandemic levels. Suddenly Republicans were forced to defy their own president’s calls for an even bigger relief bill and Democrats were given renewed hope that they could renegotiate parts of the proposal more to their liking.

Source: Huffington Post December 28, 2020 01:09 UTC