Rep. Ilhan Omar Backs Trump’s Call for ‘Clean Bill’ with Nothing But ‘$2,000 Survival Checks’

Rep. Ilhan Omar (Getty Images/Mark Wilson)

Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar says Congress should send President Donald Trump what he wants: a COVID-19 stimulus bill that contains nothing but direct $2,000 payments to the American people.

Additional COVID-19 relief measures and omnibus spending allocations should be detached from the “survival checks” and handled in a separate bill, Omar tweeted late Tuesday night, noting that Trump has already promised to immediately sign a “clean” direct payment bill:

“We need to send a clean bill with just $2,000 survival checks and a separate spending/covid relief bill. “Negotiating everything into one bill is how we got here, since Trump wants to sign a bill with survival checks, let’s send one to his desk right away.”

On Tuesday, Pres. Trump said he would veto the most recent bill passed by Congress, which attaches the pork-filled omnibus spending bill to provisions for $600 COVID-19 stimulus checks. Trump has said he wants Americans to receive $2,000 checks:

“It’s called the ‘COVID-Relief Bill,’ but it has almost nothing to COVID” … "I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 (direct payment) to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple. I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package, and maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done."