

Jon Cherry / Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is under fire following his decision to block a House-passed bill to increase direct payments in the coronavirus relief package to $2,000 from $600.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) requested that the Senate vote on the bill, which President Donald Trump also supports, but McConnell quickly shut down the proposal with an, “I object.”
In addition to the president, several Republicans, including Georgia Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are running in the Jan. 5 runoffs, have backed the call for larger checks — putting McConnell in opposition to the very Senators who would secure his status as majority leader.
Pundits, reporters, and several of McConnell’s fellow Senate members have taken to Twitter following his decision to delay the measure — bashing the senator for blocking the widely popular bipartisan proposal.
As he objects to @BernieSanders attempt to bring the House-passed bill to the floor it should now be crystal clear to every American that @senatemajldr “Moscow Mitch” McConnell is the SINGLE BIGGEST BARRIER to Americans getting $2,000 covid relief checks instead of a paltry $600.
— Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid 😷) (@JoyAnnReid) December 29, 2020
$2,000 emergency checks were blocked by the Senate.
House (bipartisan majority) passed it.
President Trump supports it.
But Mitch McConnell blocked it.
Senate Republicans like @JohnCornyn and @SenTedCruz need to speak up.
American families need help! https://t.co/Tboy2B0xgI
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) December 29, 2020
Mitch McConnell rn pic.twitter.com/oklSzReWlu
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 29, 2020
Mitch McConnell could have allowed a vote on $2000 survival checks for the American people months ago. It is long past time for the @SenateGOP to clean out the lobbyist money stuffed in their ears, listen to the desperate pleas of the American people, and give this relief a vote.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) December 29, 2020
Mitch McConnell is a dick.
— Your Heavy Set Auntie (@thejournalista) December 29, 2020
If Senator Mitch McConnell allows a floor vote, the House bill for $2000 survival checks will also pass the Senate with bipartisan support. Why is he blocking a bill supported by a majority of the American people, the House and the Senate? https://t.co/GDOqzo4buI
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 29, 2020
It’s hard for decent people to understand why Mitch McConnell is such a dick
— Gloria Fallon (@GloriaFallon123) December 29, 2020
Update: McConnell has taken that ball and gone home. https://t.co/CedAXtwVUf
— Ryan Ermey (@RyanErmey) December 29, 2020
America won’t get the COVID relief that the rest of the world is getting until McConnell is removed from power.
This is the decision, Georgia.
We should have made it as a nation but it now falls unfairly on you.
One more time.#OssoffAndWarnock— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 29, 2020
I don’t think we talk enough about what a monster mitch McConnell is.
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) December 29, 2020
Mitch McConnell blocks a popular, bipartisan proposal to increase the direct payments to $2,000 https://t.co/ZaQcrJFRfm
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 29, 2020
Hey @ProjectLincoln we need an ad right now that helps folks in GA understand that a vote for the RNC grifters is a vote to make sure McConnell can do things like kill stimulus checks. But pithy.
— Ayelet Waldman (@ayeletw) December 29, 2020
Serious question: is there anyone in DC more out of touch with the American people than Mitch McConnell?@senatemajldr @McConnellPress
— Angelique Ashby (@AngeliqueAshby) December 29, 2020
There’s a special place in hell for Mitch McConnell.
— Nicole Schuman, M.A. (@Buffalogal) December 29, 2020
yep! McConnell “sidestepped” the checks—NYT today https://t.co/Q9MeH2Rfa5
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) December 29, 2020
Mitch McConnell singlehandedly blocked $2000 checks for Americans. Instead of just saying that, the NYT is going with euphemisms again.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) December 29, 2020
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