Utah members of Congress aren’t sure what President Donald Trump’s last-minute opposition means for the coronavirus relief and federal funding bill Congress passed earlier this week.
The outgoing president called the legislation a “disgrace” Tuesday, and is pushing lawmakers to increase the $600 direct payments to $2,000.
“I’m not sure how we’ll work it out now given the controversy the president has added to the mix,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said.
Romney and Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, spoke and answered questions about the COVID-19 package Wednesday at a Salt Lake Chamber video conference.
“Do I understand right that we’re confused about where the president’s at?” Curtis said at one point. “Senator, that’s never happened before.”
Congress rolled a $908 billion coronavirus aid package, including another round of direct payments to people, small-business loans and extra unemployment benefits, into a $2.3 trillion spending bill Monday. Romney voted for it, Curtis against.
Trump threw the relief bill into doubt with his comments Tuesday. His position could derail the hard-fought legislation his administration helped negotiate and lead to a government shutdown. Added federal unemployment benefits for millions of Americans under the previous relief bill expire the day after Christmas.
Romney, who helped a bipartisan group bring the deal together, said if the president uses his veto pen, he anticipates Congress would rush back into session to draft a new bill.
“That could slow down the application of all these programs, but I doubt that’s what the president would do,” he said.
Romney said the government would have to borrow another $500 billion to increase the stimulus checks to $2,000.
“Someone’s got to pay for that. We can’t just have free money. There’s got to be taxation. We have to pay interest on the debt,” he said.
Democrats favor raising the stimulus payment as Trump has called for.
“Mr. President, sign the bill to keep government open! Urge McConnell and McCarthy to agree with the Democratic unanimous consent request for $2,000 direct payments! This can be done by noon on Christmas Eve!” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted Wednesday.
Romney said he doesn’t expect the Paycheck Protection Program or money earmarked in the spending bill for Utah projects to be in danger if Congress has to redo the legislation. That would include money to bring running water to Navajo Nation homes, removing uranium tailings in Moab, Central Utah Water Project improvements and Ogden and Provo/Orem rapid transit development.
Both Romney and Curtis lamented that congressional leaders folded coronavirus relief into the spending bill.
But Curtis, who supports coronavirus relief, said it was a vehicle lawmakers had to pass to get the aid.
“It wasn’t until the larger appropriations package came along that we really saw a lot of hope for getting the COVID legislation through,” he said. I think there’s an argument to be made we wouldn’t have the COVID legislation had it not been attached to the larger bill. But you can see it gives both of us consternation.”
Romney said neither he nor Curtis would have written the bill Congress passed, but it had to appease both Republicans and Democrats.