In a video viewed more than 11 million times on Twitter, President Donald Trump ticked off a list of aid to foreign governments that he said is contained in the new COVID-19 stimulus relief bill that Congress approved on December 21.
Trump alleged the bill provides:
- $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia
- $134 million to Burma
- $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military, “which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment.”
- $25 million for democracy and gender programs in Pakistan
- $505 million for Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
A widely circulated post on Facebook also purports that the COVID-19 relief bill contains aid to foreign governments.
“Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists and foreign interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it. It wasn’t their fault; it was China’s fault,” said Trump.
Some members of Congress have also railed against the aid.
I predict the day our country’s finances collapse, we will still be funding “gender programs in Pakistan.” Tonight’s COVID relief/stimulus bill has no less than $10 million for said programs attached to it.
Is this true?
Actually, those items are contained in a separate omnibus spending bill, not the COVID-19 relief bill, but they were passed at the same time.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Foreign Government Spending Was in the Omnibus Spending Bill
Statement by Donald J. Trump, The President of the United States
Full Video: t.co/avKfYctPAD
The president declared that he was asking Congress “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.”
Throughout the summer, Trump said, “Democrats cruelly blocked COVID relief legislation in an effort to advance their extreme left wing agenda and influence the election. Then a few months ago Congress started negotiations on a new package to get urgently needed help to the American people. It’s taken forever. However the bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. It really is a disgrace.”
In the video, Trump listed aid to foreign governments among other items and claimed those items are in the COVID-19 relief bill. However, according to Politifact, the COVID-19 relief bill did not include the aid to foreign governments; those items were passed at the same time but as part of a separate omnibus spending bill.
The Politifact article was fact-checking the Facebook post that alleged the COVID-19 stimulus bill contained the aid to foreign governments.
“The post conflates provisions of the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill with provisions of a separate, $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill. Both were part of a broader $2.3 trillion package approved by Congress,” Politifact explained.
I will neither endorse a corrupt legislative process nor agree to pass legislation that actively harms our nation.
This spending bill was nothing short of an embarrassment, created by legislative malpractice.
Full stmt: t.co/WOL8S64x1i
Fee.org explained that Congress “voted on a multi-trillion dollar government funding package that included a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill.” According to that site, the approved package is “several bills tied into one.” The foreign aid, including for gender programs in Pakistan is “part of the defense bill contained in the $1.4 trillion omnibus that was bound up with the COVID relief bill,” reported Fee.org. Because the bills were bundled together, reported the site, “US senators could not vote for COVID relief without voting for gender programs in Pakistan, $35 million for abstinence programs, and tax changes for owners of race horses.”
Fee.org explains this could be an example of “logrolling,” a “trading of favors” in which people vote for a package because it contains items that “benefit their special interests” back home.
“The Senate passed the massive year-end legislation combining $900 billion in pandemic relief with $1.4 trillion to fund federal agencies through fiscal 2021,” Bloomberg reported. “The House passed the legislation earlier Monday night. The total bill is worth more than $2.3 trillion…” According to Bloomberg, the spending bill is a “final year-end bill, which includes annual appropriations through September” to fund the operations of the federal government.
Fox News noted, “As Congress rushed to pass its year-end spending omnibus legislation and a coronavirus stimulus bill in one fell swoop Monday night, many objected to the process which essentially attached the crucial pandemic aid to a bevy of other priorities totaling $2.3 trillion.”
In the video, Trump said there are more than 5,000 pages in this bill and “no one in Congress has read” it “because of its length and complexity. It’s called the COVID relief bill, but this bill has nothing to do with COVID.”
He said that “despite all of this wasteful spending and much more, the $900 billion provides hard working taxpayers with only 600 each.” He said the bill doesn’t give enough money to small businesses, especially restaurants.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, wrote on Twitter, “It is absurd what Congressional “leadership” did on this 5,600-page spending bill. But what’s even worse: this is what Congress does with your money every single year. Now more people are seeing behind the curtain.”
Trump Claimed the Bill Also Contains Arts Spending & Spending for Fish Management
GettyPresident Donald Trump
In the video, Trump said the bill contained more than just the foreign government aid. Trump also urged Congress to increase the $600 stimulus checks for Americans contained in the COVID-19 relief bill to $2,000.
“I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump said. “I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the unnecessary and wasteful items in this legislation.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is agreeing to Trump’s $2,000 stimulus check proposal.
“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!” Pelosi tweeted on December 22.
In addition, claimed Trump, the bill contained $40 million for the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., “which is not even open for business,” and money for the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art. “Likewise these facilities are essentially not open,” said Trump.
The president further claimed the bill included millions of dollars for reef fish management, to combat Asian carp and to count the number of Amberjack fish in the Gulf of Mexico. He said it also includes construction projects at the FBI.
Trump claims the bill “allows stimulus checks for the family members of illegal aliens at $1,800 each. This is far more than the Americans are given.”
Again, though, Trump is conflating the omnibus spending with the COVID-19 bill, although they were passed at the same time.
READ NEXT: Wife Shoots D.C. Police Detective Husband After Sharing Wedding Video, Police Say