House Republicans block a Democratic attempt to advance $2,000 stimulus checks that Trump is pressing for

• House Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to increase the size of stimulus checks included in the latest coronavirus relief bill from $600 to $2000 on Thursday morning.
• "If the president is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction," Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
• Pelosi also said she would hold a recorded vote on a Democratic plan to bump the size of stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000.
• Trump has suggested he may not sign coronavirus legislation if major changes aren't made, including increasing the size of stimulus payments.

House Republicans just blocked an attempt from Democrats to pass $2,000 stimulus checks for tens of millions of Americans on Thursday morning.

Congressional Democratic leaders moved to increase the size of direct payments from $600 to $2,000 using "unanimous consent," meaning every lawmaker had to approve it. The House GOP blocked the measure, which could put them on a collision course with President Donald Trump who is demanding larger relief payments as part of coronavirus relief legislation.

He suggested on Tuesday evening in a video released on Twitter that he may not sign the bipartisan plan if major changes aren't made to the package, including increasing the size of stimulus payments from $600 per person to $2,000.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted the Republican step in a statement on Thursday morning.

"If the president is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction," she said.

The California Democrat also said she would bring the House back into session on Monday to hold a recorded vote on legislation to increase the payments to $2,000."To vote against this bill is to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny them the relief they need," Pelosi said.

The procedural moves come as Trump has threatened to blow up the passage of a $900 billion economic aid plan along with a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund the government into next year. Both pieces of legislation were combined into a single 5,593-page tax-and-spending package to speed up their passage during the Congressional lame-duck session.

The negotiated coronavirus relief package included $600 stimulus payments for Americans, $300 federal unemployment benefits into mid-March, $25 billion in rental assistance, small business aid, and education funding as well.

House Democrats on Thursday also blocked a measure from Republicans to review American spending on foreign aid within the government funding component of the legislation.

It is unclear whether Trump will hold firm on his threat. The omnibus spending package and federal relief legislation passed both chambers on Monday evening with deep bipartisan support, possibly paving the way for Congress to override a presidential veto.

However, Trump had been expected to sign the legislation this week, and Republicans may be reluctant to act against him given his strong popularity among Republican voters.

The delay in enacting the federal rescue package could have calamitous consequences for many Americans. Nearly 14 million Americans are threatened with the loss of all their unemployment aid in two days if government aid programs are not renewed.

Also, an eviction moratorium is set to lapse at the end of the month, and many Americans could end up losing their homes. The government will also shut down midnight on Monday if Trump doesn't sign the package, and lawmakers would have to approve a stopgap funding measure to avert it.

"The eviction moratorium expires on Dec 31 and tens of millions of people are at risk of losing their homes this winter during the height of COVID-19. A CR won't protect them," Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, tweeted, referring to a short-term federal funding bill. "The President must sign the bipartisan, bicameral relief bill NOW."

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of Senate Republican leadership, encouraged him to support the legislation.

"I believe we will not shut down," he told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. "And I hope the president looks at this again and reaches that conclusion that the best thing to do is to sign the bill."