Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is tearing into Republicans over their opposition to an increase in the amount included in stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000.
“A lot of Republicans are saying they object to the payments because it costs too much and is going to add too much to the deficit. Well frankly, spare me the fake righteous indignation about the deficit all of a sudden,” Murphy said on Tuesday.
He added, “Three years ago, these same deficit hawk Republicans passed a tax cut bill that before the pandemic hit had already added over $200 billion to the annual deficit.”
Watch his comments below:
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Republicans' objection to $2,000 direct payments:
— The Recount (@therecount) December 29, 2020
"Spare me the fake righteous indignation about the deficit all of a sudden." pic.twitter.com/5PyRefKYkG
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Democrats to set up a vote to increase the checks.
On Monday, the House passed the CASH Act to increase direct payments to $2,000, as IJR previously reported.
Forty four Republicans voted in favor of the bill and two Democrats voted against it.
Several lawmakers have weighed in on whether they oppose or support President Donald Trump’s push to increase stimulus checks.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a statement, “I agree with the President that millions of working class families are in dire need of additional relief, which is why I support $2,000 in direct payments to Americans struggling due to the pandemic.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed Republicans for refusing to support the measure, as IJR previously reported.
“Notice how Republican Congressmen who like to claim they are the party of ‘personal responsibility’ refuse to take any responsibility themselves for blocking retroactive unemployment benefits, voting against $2k survival checks, stoking doubt about the pandemic to begin with, etc,” she wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) joined others in throwing their support behind the increase.
