Increasing that check amount is supported by a list includes the House Speaker and Bernie Sanders.

After being absent from negotiations for a new stimulus package for the nation, President Donald Trump has called for more direct assistance to Americans. The president’s last-minute interjection threatens to stall the fragile agreement between Democrats and Republicans on a $900 billion package that included $600 checks. 

“I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump said in a video posted on his Twitter feed.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (left) and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right) are among the lawmakers who support President Trump’s call for a higher amount than $600 in direct assistance to Americans. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite – Pool/Getty Images and DNCC via Getty Images)

The idea of increasing the check amount is supported by a host of Democrats, a list that includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

The latter contended on Twitter that she and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib had already written an amendment for $2,000 checks for Americans. 

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“Let’s do it,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Glad to see the President is willing to support our legislation. We can pass $2k checks this week if the Senate GOP agrees to stand down.” 

Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer also agree with the call for larger checks.

“I’m in,” Schumer wrote on Twitter. “Whaddya say, Mitch? Let’s not get bogged down with ideological offsets and unrelated items and just DO THIS! The American people deserve it.” 

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Trump has called many of the items in the 5,000-page legislation “wasteful and unnecessary items.” He encouraged Congress to “send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.” 

Still pushing his unfounded belief that he could possibly retain the presidency, Trump added: “And maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done.” 

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Progressives have been pushing for larger checks for Americans for months; Trump signaling that he’s open to more support for everyday people during his last days at the White House has reenergized their goals. Congressional leaders like Sen. Bernie Sanders reached out directly to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“Now, Mr. President,” Sanders tweeted, “get Mitch McConnell and your Republican friends to stop opposing it and we can provide working-class Americans with $2,000.”

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