House reverses plan to return to DC after push back

WASHINGTON (SBG) - In another sign that lawmakers are still trying to cope with the coronavirus, there's been a big change to their calendar.

House members were told to be back next week, but there was a quick change of plans after warnings from doctors and word that the next relief bill won't be ready for a vote.

President Trump says he thinks Democrats are enjoying being away from Washington. "They don't want to come back," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

I think they should be back here, but they don’t. They are enjoying their vacation, and they shouldn’t be.

But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer recently told Sinclair it's a fallacy. “I really regret when I see things saying that congress is not working or people are not doing this or people are not doing that," he explained. "That’s, first of all, baloney. Congress is working very, very hard.”

As they work toward a potential second round of stimulus checks for Americans, many are still waiting for their first, which were approved back in March.

The concept of direct cash for those struggling was popularized by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and his idea of a thousand dollar freedom dividend. "Time is of the essence because people are suffering and struggling right now. I certainly would not be trying to hold off and you know, people are gonna need it more later, no people need it right now," he told Sinclair. "We’re in a situation now. It’s like a $21 trillion fire and we just need to put the fire out and distribute water, and what you don't need is people counting water droplets. You just need to put water into people's hands. That’s the way government should be approaching it, that’s the way we’re approaching it.”

Yang helped create Project 100, which is donor funded, and has already started giving $1,000 to 100,000 families who are in need.

Meanwhile, states are losing colossal amounts of revenue from being shut down—and they want help too. Unless Congress allots them money, they'll have to rely on what they have. Fortunately, the National Association of State Budget Officers says many of them ended the last fiscal year with a budget surplus.

Even though the Senate is coming back May 4, it's still unclear when the House will return. It may be much harder for them to do so safely— as they share the floor, ride elevators, and meet— since they have four times as many members as the Senate.