27 December 2020
Several lawmakers on Sunday railed against President Trump and demanded he sign the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill and $1.4 trillion government funding measure passed by Congress last week.
Why it matters: Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans lapsed overnight, and the federal government may be forced to shut down this week if Trump does not sign the measure.
Driving the news: In a surprise announcement last week, Trump said he wants Congress to increase stimulus payments from the agreed $600 that his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin helped negotiate to $2,000.
- But many lawmakers, including several Democrats who support $2,000 checks, want the president to first sign the measure already passed by Congress and then focus on passing additional legislation.
What they're saying:
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told ABC News that "what the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel."
- "Many millions of people are losing their extended unemployment benefits. They're going to be evicted from their apartments. There's money in that bill,” he said.
- "My view is that, given the terrible economic crisis facing this country, yes, we do need to get $2,000 out to every working-class individual in this country, $500 for their kids — but you can't diddle around with the bill," he said.
- Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said Trump risked his legacy if he did not immediate sign the legislation.
- "I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he'll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire," Toomey told "Fox News Sunday."
- "You don't get everything you want, even if you're the president of the United States," he said, adding that he does not support $2,000 stimulus checks.
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) told CNN's "State of the Union" that he doesn't understand why Trump is playing "this old switcheroo game" now.
- “I don’t get the point, I don’t understand what’s being done, why — unless it’s just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election. Otherwise I don’t understand it because this just has to get done. Too many people are relying on this,” he said.
- "Right now, we’re at a point where people are left out in the dark."
Go deeper:Expanded unemployment benefits lapse with relief bill in limbo
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.