Donald Trump Signed Everything, but Has Not Yet Given Up
Published in Kommersant
(Russia) on 28 December 2020
by Alexei Naumov (link to original)
(Russia) on 28 December 2020
by Alexei Naumov (link to original)
Translated from
by Yaroslava Kuzina.
Edited by Margaret McIntyre.
The American president agreed to help his country's economy, despite remaining dissatisfied.
After lengthy debates and long waits, U.S. President Donald Trump has finally signed into law a bill that is designed to prevent a government shutdown and to aid the economy during the pandemic. Formally, he has demanded that Congress make revisions to the document, but in reality Trump has no way to ensure that this will happen. It seems that the president does not really understand what is going on. For instance, he drew up a plan outlining the Senate's priorities in its future work, and ignored the fact that the current members of Congress will not be serving for much longer.
Trump explained his decision to finally sign the bill, which had been quite painfully passed through both houses of Congress: "I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill." Trump also declared that in the near future, the Senate will tackle several new issues, which he hoped to resolve by including them in the coronavirus stimulus bill. The most important of these issues is Trump's goal to repeal Section 230.
Section 230, which doesn't require any introduction in American news, is part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. According to this law, social media networks are not liable for content that is posted by users. Furthermore, social media networks are allowed to delete or limit the spread of posts on their platforms. It is precisely this fact that annoys Trump and his supporters so much.
Many Republicans believe that Section 230 allows online companies to censor content, which harms conservatives most of all.
Trump promised that the Senate would continue investigations into the 2020 election fraud and that the Senate would increase stimulus checks to those Americans who have suffered most during the pandemic, from $600 to $2,000. However, Trump did not explain how this would occur, and did not take into consideration the fact that, on Jan. 3, a new Congress would be in session. Two days later, the fate of Georgia's Senate races will be decided and we will know who holds the majority of seats in Congress. There is the possibility that the Democrats will hold the majority.
The president signed this bill into law at the very last moment: without this bill, the budget of the U.S. government would have expired on Jan. 4.
Originally, Trump refused to sign the bill and demanded that all "wasteful items" be removed from it. He also demanded that the size of the stimulus checks be increased to $2,000.
It is interesting to note that the idea of a $600 stimulus check was put forward by Trump's secretary of the treasury, Steven Mnuchin.
The day before, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey appeared on Fox News and spoke about President Trump: "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."
This will no longer occur, but the Democrats are still preparing a "bomb" for the Republicans. The Democrats are supporting the $2,000 stimulus checks, which the Republicans are against.
On Dec. 28, the House of Representatives (which is controlled by the Democrats) will vote on increasing the stimulus checks. Republicans will most likely vote against it, and thus go against the president.
Both houses of Congress will go against the president on another issue as well: Trump has vetoed the defense budget. He was not happy that the budget proposed to rename military bases that had been named in honor of Confederate generals, limit the president's right to remove American forces from Germany and Afghanistan, and did not repeal Section 230. There are enough votes in Congress to override the president's veto: It will be voted on in the House of Representatives on Monday, Dec. 28, and in the Senate on Tuesday, Dec. 29.
After lengthy debates and long waits, U.S. President Donald Trump has finally signed into law a bill that is designed to prevent a government shutdown and to aid the economy during the pandemic. Formally, he has demanded that Congress make revisions to the document, but in reality Trump has no way to ensure that this will happen. It seems that the president does not really understand what is going on. For instance, he drew up a plan outlining the Senate's priorities in its future work, and ignored the fact that the current members of Congress will not be serving for much longer.
Trump explained his decision to finally sign the bill, which had been quite painfully passed through both houses of Congress: "I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill." Trump also declared that in the near future, the Senate will tackle several new issues, which he hoped to resolve by including them in the coronavirus stimulus bill. The most important of these issues is Trump's goal to repeal Section 230.
Section 230, which doesn't require any introduction in American news, is part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. According to this law, social media networks are not liable for content that is posted by users. Furthermore, social media networks are allowed to delete or limit the spread of posts on their platforms. It is precisely this fact that annoys Trump and his supporters so much.
Many Republicans believe that Section 230 allows online companies to censor content, which harms conservatives most of all.
Trump promised that the Senate would continue investigations into the 2020 election fraud and that the Senate would increase stimulus checks to those Americans who have suffered most during the pandemic, from $600 to $2,000. However, Trump did not explain how this would occur, and did not take into consideration the fact that, on Jan. 3, a new Congress would be in session. Two days later, the fate of Georgia's Senate races will be decided and we will know who holds the majority of seats in Congress. There is the possibility that the Democrats will hold the majority.
The president signed this bill into law at the very last moment: without this bill, the budget of the U.S. government would have expired on Jan. 4.
Originally, Trump refused to sign the bill and demanded that all "wasteful items" be removed from it. He also demanded that the size of the stimulus checks be increased to $2,000.
It is interesting to note that the idea of a $600 stimulus check was put forward by Trump's secretary of the treasury, Steven Mnuchin.
The day before, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey appeared on Fox News and spoke about President Trump: "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."
This will no longer occur, but the Democrats are still preparing a "bomb" for the Republicans. The Democrats are supporting the $2,000 stimulus checks, which the Republicans are against.
On Dec. 28, the House of Representatives (which is controlled by the Democrats) will vote on increasing the stimulus checks. Republicans will most likely vote against it, and thus go against the president.
Both houses of Congress will go against the president on another issue as well: Trump has vetoed the defense budget. He was not happy that the budget proposed to rename military bases that had been named in honor of Confederate generals, limit the president's right to remove American forces from Germany and Afghanistan, and did not repeal Section 230. There are enough votes in Congress to override the president's veto: It will be voted on in the House of Representatives on Monday, Dec. 28, and in the Senate on Tuesday, Dec. 29.
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