Speaker Nancy Pelosi is praising efforts to craft a massive economic stimulus package, which is expected to be considered by the House today. She noted strong bipartisan support for the measure in the House and said it will pass.
As we told you yesterday, the Senate approved the roughly two-trillion dollar bill late Wednesday night. Pelosi said Senate Democrats succeeded in changing the focus of the bill, putting workers and families first instead of putting corporations first. President Trump is expected to sign the measure after passage by the House.
But there’s a fly in the ointment. Lawmakers in the House are rushing back to Washington, D.C. over worries the coronavirus stimulus package won't pass by a simple voice vote. There are fears Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie will request a recorded vote, meaning most House members need to be present to cast their votes – otherwise it’ll die by a single vote. Presumably Massie’s as he’s already said he’s a “no.” Any objections could also delay the vote. Either way, once passed, President Trump says he'll sign it.
What gives with Massie? The cost. Massie says his concern is about what this does to the national debt. “You can take $2-trillion out of the economy by telling everybody not to go to work,” he explains. “But when you try to put it back in to make up for it – Guess what? You can prop up the banks and Wall Street, but if the farmers aren't growing food and the manufacturers aren't making insulin and people aren't fixing cars or making new ones, you can't print food, you can't print insulin at the Federal Reserve or the Treasury. We have to get our economy going.”
Source: NBC News