NASHVILLE - President Donald Trump's blasting of this week's congressionally approved bipartisan coronavirus-relief package as a "disgrace" and his demand the measure's economic stimulus payments to individuals rise from a "ridiculously low" $600 to $2,000 is putting Republicans on the defensive, while pleasantly surprised Democrats are supporting the proposal.
Trump's comments came Tuesday night after the Democratic-run House and Republican-controlled Senate approved the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package alongside a $1.3 trillion spending bill covering most regular federal government operations and programs.
Republicans thought they had full support from the president. But Trump soon released a video in which he panned it, called for the increase in payments and demanded the elimination of what he called "wasteful and unnecessary items" such as funding for the Kennedy Center and the Egyptian military - most of which were in his own budget proposal.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican and House Appropriations Committee member who supported the bill, said Wednesday that after months of what he called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats dragging their feet on passing aid, Congress and the administration finally came to an agreement on a bill.
"I agree there is room for improvement and will gladly look into any improvements the president wants added to the bill to ensure the people of East Tennessee are receiving critical aid as we combat the COVID-19 pandemic," the Ooltewah Republican said, also noting he had heard "from small businesses and constituents who have been struggling throughout this pandemic and they are in need of aid from Congress. While this bill is far from perfect, it provides critical aid to my constituents during a growing crisis in East Tennessee. My constituents are my No. 1 priority."
The bill includes "much-needed funding for Chickamauga Lock, the Oak Ridge Reservation and small businesses," Fleischmann said, adding it "also ends surprise medical billing, which will be a relief for many families across the nation."
The legislation also includes a restoration of the Paycheck Protection Program that provides forgivable loans as incentives for smaller employers to avoid laying off workers. Another provision provides $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits to jobless workers.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, was one of just six senators, all Republicans, who voted against the Senate bill, which was favored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
"I think it is fair to say that President Trump fully understands that the best economic stimulus is a job and there is a lot in this bill that gets in the way of economic recovery," Blackburn said in a Wednesday appearance on Fox News.
Blackburn charged that what Democrats "have come at us with is a climate change embracing, illegal immigration empowering, lobbyist wish list which is their pathway to socialism which they think it is going to be their time to permanently change this country."
Alluding to Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and socialist, Blackburn referred to the bill as the "Bernie plan" that was "a direct cash payment to people. This is redistribution of wealth. And that is a pathway we do not want to go down."
Reminded by the Fox News host that McConnell supported and praised the bill and that White House negotiators including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin helped put it together, Blackburn said, "there is a lot of good in the bill, some things we needed to have done are included in the bill. And this is always a negotiation. For me the bill goes far too left and embraces too many of these socialistic-type ideas that I don't appreciate and don't stand for."
A delighted Speaker Pelosi, meanwhile, tweeted out, "Mr. President, sign the bill to keep government open! Urge McConnell and McCarthy to agree with the Democratic unanimous consent request for $2,000 direct payments! This can be done by noon on Christmas Eve!"
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Nashville Democrat, weighed in as well on Twitter, criticizing Trump and saying the president, who continues to contest the November presidential election, "has no interest in the legislative process unless he directly benefits. If he cared at all about helping families, he would know his own party has been blocking larger stimulus checks for MONTHS."
He noted the Democratic-controlled House passed its HEROES Act back in May. It provided up to $6,000 in stimulus payments per household and also continued federal unemployment insurance payments of least $2,400 per month, which Cooper said Senate Republicans wanted to let expire.
"I am happy to support $2,000 for individual stimulus," Cooper continued, "but this delay and Trump's threats are really about his ego and his desperate attempts for more publicity as time winds down on his failed presidency."
Richard Vaughn, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a Tennessee Republican who voted against the combined relief package and omnibus funding bill, said his view that Trump's "suggestion is that other things in the bill should be cut to offset the extra amount to get to $2,000 per person.
"Pelosi's being disingenuous and she knows it," Vaughn said, adding that "Congressman DesJarlais has a problem with 'omnibus' legislating in general - 5,593 pages of funding in one bill never turns out well for American taxpayers."
But the president's comments and actions weren't going so well in Georgia, where both incumbent Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, voted for the coronavirus and omnibus government funding legislation. They found themselves under fire from their respective Democratic opponents, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, in the Jan. 5 runoff elections. The contests will determine which party controls the Senate.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that while Ossoff said he would have voted for the bipartisan package "because people need help right now," he called $600 a "joke" and an "insult." The newspaper reported Warnock's campaign issued a statement saying, "Donald Trump is right, Congress should swiftly increase direct payments to $2,000."
Loeffler, meanwhile, accused Democrats of "playing politics," with the Journal-Constitution quoting her saying her support for Trump's new demand depends on whether other, unspecified parts of the package are cut.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.