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The US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced his own version of a bill to increase the $600 stimulus checks from the coronavirus relief package to $2,000. He also included 2 other major priorities for President Trump. The legislation would also repeal Section 230 (the controversial liability protection for online platforms) and create a committee on the Election Assistance Commission to study election integrity. McConnell set the table for a bill to address these 3 issues in his floor remarks on Tuesday. He said, “During this process, the president highlighted three additional issues of national significance he would like to see Congress tackle together. Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together. This week, the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus”.

Point to be noted that the remarks weren’t a firm promise that any of these issues would receive a vote or McConnell would push particularly hard for them. However, McConnell’s bill itself is unlikely to gain the support of the 60 senators, needed to break a filibuster. Some Republicans have already said they favor $2,000 stimulus checks and they would likely back the bill. But, most Democrats probably will not vote for it due to the other issues McConnell’s bill addresses. McConnell’s bill could allow GOP senators to be able to say they voted for $2,000 stimulus checks while protecting priorities of the majority of his caucus, which has previously opposed the checks. Sen. David Perdue said he supports $2,000 checks and is also in a fierce runoff set for 5^th January to hold onto his seat.

Perdue appeared on Fox & Friends Wednesday and said, “The Democrats themselves held this up for months and so here in the last minute, they’re complaining about the normal operation of the Senate. I’m an outsider of this process but I can tell you these things that Mitch McConnell is trying to do are in line with what the President has said. I support what the President is trying to do relative to Section 230, the repeal of that, and also the $2,000 stimulus checks. We’re in full support of that”. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called McConnell’s proposal a cynical gambit. It is noteworthy that Trump warned Republicans in a tweet and said they should support quick delivery of stimulus checks unless they have a death wish.