Pelosi lays into McConnell for blocking $2,000 stimulus checks

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McConnell blocks Senate vote on raising stimulus check amount to $2,000

University of Maryland professor Peter Morici weighs in on the stimulus showdown.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for holding up $2,000 stimulus checks that both Democrats and President Trump support. 

The House passed bipartisan legislation earlier this week to boost the forthcoming coronavirus stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000 after Trump demanded it, but McConnell blocked a quick vote on that stand-alone legislation Tuesday. 

130 HOUSE REPUBLICANS, 2 DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST $2,000 STIMULUS CHECKS

"It's amazing to see the patience that some people have with other people's suffering," Pelosi said at a news conference Wednesday. "These Republicans in the Senate seem to have an endless tolerance."

"We urge Mitch McConnell to stop his obstruction and to bring that legislation to the floor of the Senate," Pelosi added.

McConnell has not committed to bringing the $2,000 checks up for a vote. Instead, he wants to link the $2,000 stimulus checks to two other hot-button pieces of legislation — repealing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that Trump wants to hit Big Tech with, and measures to investigate Trump's election security claims. 

"Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together," McConnell said Tuesday. "This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus."

MCCONNELL INTRODUCES HIS OWN BILL ON $2,000 STIMULUS CHECKS, OTHER TRUMP PRIORITIES

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said this was McConnell's latest attempt to deprive Americans of bigger checks.

"Senator McConnell knows how to make $2,000 survival checks reality and he knows how to kill them," Schumer said. 

In other news, Pelosi said Wednesday she'd be forming a new select committee to address economic disparities. 

Pelosi also brushed off a GOP effort to challenge the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6 during a Joint Session of Congress, saying that she has "no doubt" President-elect Joe Biden will become the next president. 

DEMOCRATS SEIZE ON MCCONNELL'S STIMULUS BLOCK IN GEORGIA RUNOFF

Pelosi announced that Rep.-elect Mariannette Miller-Meeks would still be sworn in on Sunday with the rest of Congress despite the ongoing challenge to her six-vote win in Iowa. The provisional swearing-in doesn't preclude the House from still investigating the election challenge from Democrat Rita Hart.

"Every vote counts and that’s why the Committee on House Administration is conducting a thorough and fair review of this election to make sure every vote was counted and counted as cast," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill added. "Pending the outcome of the Committee’s review and consistent with House practice, we intend to provisionally seat the Republican candidate on Sunday."