//Trump’s demand for $2,000 stimulus checks is blocked by his own party

Trump’s demand for $2,000 stimulus checks is blocked by his own party

Rep. Kevin McCarthy and President Donald Trump in February 2020. | Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to hold a vote on stimulus checks — and Republicans blocked it.

House Democrats’ attempt to consider $2,000 stimulus checks has officially been blocked by their Republican colleagues in the lower chamber, despite President Donald Trump’s support for this very measure.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday requested “unanimous consent” to pass a new bill guaranteeing these payments after Trump demanded that stimulus checks in the final coronavirus relief package be increased from $600 to $2,000. Trump’s request — an apparent political stunt — has now been blocked by members of his own party.

Because Hoyer asked for unanimous consent to bring the standalone bill to a vote, and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did not consent, the measure did not move forward.