December 28 political news briefs

Here are political news briefs.

On Sunday night, President Donald Trump signed the coronavirus relief package that has $600 direct payments and extended unemployment insurance that was attached to a new spending bill to fund the U.S. government through the year. Trump had refused to sign the bill on Wednesday because he wanted the direct payments to be $2,000.

Democrats said they supported Trump on this, but Republicans in Congress opposed it. It seemed like we would go into a stalemate that would cause a government shutdown by midnight today, but Trump signed it last night just before the deadline. However, millions of Americans' unemployment benefits will be delayed about a week because Trump waited too long to sign it.

The $600 direct payments will go to all qualifying adults and children in the U.S. for individuals who had up to $75,000 in adjusted gross income or married couples making up to $150,000. Those who have direct deposit information with the IRS will be the first to receive the money. CNBC said it could come in the next two weeks. Those who use paper checks or prepaid debit cards with the IRS will have to wait longer to get the money.

Trump said he is still pushing for direct payments to be increased to $2,000 and would push Senate Republicans to support this.

The House will vote today to increase the payments to $2,000, but CNBC reported that Senate Republicans are unlikely to support it.

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In Georgia, the Senate runoff race is heating up as the January 5 Election Day comes closer and closer. Two Republican senators, Perdue and Loeffler, are trying to hold on to their seats from Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Over 300 million dollars have been raised among the candidates. If Republicans hold on to one of the seats, they will have control of the Senate in 2021. Democrats have to win both to seize control of the Senate. Trump said he would fly to Dalton, Georgia on January 4 for a rally.

A member of President-elect Joe Biden's Covid-19 advisory team said Biden plans to use the Defense Production Act to boost production of vaccines, which would be a similar move that Trump did to boost production of ventilators earlier this year. Biden also wants a major increase in testing to track people with symptoms of the coronavirus.

That's all the political news briefs for today.

https://www.axios.com/trump-to-sign-covid-19-relief-bill-averting-shutdown-892096f7-2a16-440a-9065-e88498ff6277.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/28/house-votes-on-2000-stimulus-checks-after-trump-signs-relief-bill.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/28/politics-updates-presidential-transition-covid-relief/4057942001/

https://www.axios.com/biden-defense-production-vaccine-2b43c36d-46df-4152-b941-5864d34b2052.html