KEY POINTS

  • Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley have teamed up to try and force the Senate to approve a new round of COVID-19 relief checks
  • The Senate must pass a budget within days or face a government shutdown
  • Neither of the largest coalitions support a second round of checks

An unlikely new Senate power couple is pushing hard for new stimulus checks: Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

The influence of the pair was first seen last week when they threatened to withhold their votes from a budget extension if it didn’t include a new round of COVID-19 relief checks. While they eventually opted to let it pass, they did so with the warning that they wouldn’t be caving when the new shutdown deadline arrived a week later.

The two joined forces after Hawley introduced a bill for stimulus checks.

“Sen. Sanders alerted us that he had seen my announcement,” Hawley told The Hill. “Asked if [partnership] was something I would be amenable to ... and I said sure. As I’ve said, I’ll work with anybody. ... It is an absolute mystery to me why this is not a bipartisan proposal.”

Bernie Sanders took a stinging shot at the president, accusing him of fomenting confusion and eroding the all-important trust in government institutions in the time of crisis
Bernie Sanders took a stinging shot at the president, accusing him of fomenting confusion and eroding the all-important trust in government institutions in the time of crisis AFP / Mandel NGAN

Sanders expressed a similar sentiment when asked about working with Hawley, who has sharply different political views.

“Why don’t we take it one step at a time?” Sanders said. “It may be that we will have disagreements, but whatever that package may be, this stuff has got to be in it.”

Sanders said on the Senate floor that Congress would not go home for the holidays without providing "for the millions of families in this country who are suffering."

Roughly 12 million workers could lose jobless benefits by the end of the month.

The Sanders-Hawley partnership is set to be tested very soon, as neither of the proposals with broad support in the Senate include stimulus checks.

CNN reporter Manu Raju noted Thursday that Sanders and Hawley had teamed up to push for the $1,200 checks.

Coronavirus