Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, was one of the 44 Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote in favor of increasing the size of COVID-19 stimulus checks to $2,000 Monday.

On Monday, Garcia voted in favor of increasing the amount of money given directly to qualifying residents from $600 to $2,000 as part of the CASH Act, less than a week after President Donald Trump called for such action.

“The reality is these checks are not helping us fight COVID but are helping us survive the government-induced lockdowns,” Garcia said in a statement Tuesday. “While I am a fiscal conservative, the original $600 was way too little, especially in SoCal, where the cost of living is higher, and in CA-25, where our unemployment rate is over 10%.”

Garcia pointed towards California Governor Gavin Newsom, stating that he had “caused significant economic hardship for citizens of California,” and specifically in California’s 25th Congressional District (CA-25), which he represents.

“Sacramento should be paying this bill, but they continue to fail us,” Garcia said. “I personally believe $2,000 to adults and children, and even those who have not lost their jobs, is too much. But my vote this week was a yes or no vote to either $600 or $2,000. In this case, given the severity of the lockdowns, $2,000 is the more appropriate value. ”

Garcia also cited the fact CA-25 is home to many businesses that are “getting crushed by Newsom,” including Six Flags Magic Mountain, Princess Cruises, and numerous restaurants and film production companies.

“Employees from these industries need more help than what has been provided,” Garcia said.  “In the end, we need to reopen businesses and schools ASAP while still mitigating the spread of COVID to the maximum extent. The $284.5 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program made available by the recently-passed COVID relief bill will provide needed relief and help bring us closer to the goal of safely reopening.”

The week before, Garcia voted in favor of the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package, stating at the time that it “should have been done in September.”

“While this bill isn’t perfect, it funnels resources where they are most needed without the unnecessary spending found in Pelosi’s $3 (trillion) COVID-19 relief proposals,” Garcia said at the time. “As a fiscal conservative the size of this bill is staggering. But in the end, it is needed and may still not be enough for some small businesses and individuals who are suffering.”

Garcia concluded by stating that while he remained committed to “making sure the federal government addresses its massive debt and deficit spending,” the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout of it has “made large relief bills necessary.”

“But we can’t take our eye off the ball when it comes to badly-needed annual federal spending reforms,” Garcia said. “$27 trillion debt is now the single biggest threat to our nation’s security.”

See Related: Garcia Votes In Favor Of $900 Billion COVID-19 Relief Package

On Monday, CNBC reported that the Treasury Department anticipates being able to start delivering the $600 direct stimulus payments included in the COVID relief legislation by the end of this week, according to a senior Treasury Department official.

In response to Trump’s calls for a $2,000 payment to Americans, the House of Representatives voted 275-134 Monday evening to approve legislation which increases stimulus checks to $2,000 for eligible Americans.

“The President must immediately call on congressional Republicans to end their obstruction and to join him and Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000, which will be brought to the Floor tomorrow,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement after Trump signed the stimulus legislation Sunday evening. “Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny the American people the relief they need.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) blocked attempts by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) to bring the House bill to the Senator floor for a vote on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, by unanimous consent.

McConnell acknowledged that Trump “would like further direct financial support for American households,” but did not specify why he objected. However, Senate rules allow any one senator to block efforts to set up votes or pass bills.

“During this process, the president highlighted three additional issues of national significance he would like to see Congress tackle together,” McConnell said. “Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together. This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.”

The two subjects in addition to the increased stimulus payments McConnell referenced were Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides protections for companies that host third-party content on their platforms like Facebook and Twitter and has been a subject of Trump’s ire in his clashes with the tech companies, and election security in a nod to the president’s claims of election fraud.

In response to McConnell’s objection to bringing the bill for $2,000 payments forward, Sanders then objected to the majority leader’s attempt to quickly bring forward a vote to override Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

As of Tuesday, five Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler (R-Georgia), David Perdue, (R-Georgia), Lindsey Graham, (R-South Carolina); Josh Hawley, (R-Missouri) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida),  have backed the House legislation for $2,000 stimulus checks. However, seven more Senate Republicans would be required to support the checks in order to break a filibuster and set the issue for an up-or-down vote.

That would also depend on if McConnell brings the stimulus check bill back to the floor.

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