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    Josh Hawley Puts Republican Party in a Bind With Objection to Biden's Win

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    Georgia Runoff

    Full Results

    Electoral College Votes

    Biden Transition Updates

    “),e+=””+b+””,e+=””,d&&(e+=””,e+=””,e+=”Live”,e+=””),e+=””,e}function getVariant(){var a=window.NYTD&&window.NYTD.Abra&&window.NYTD.Abra.getAbraSync&&window.NYTD.Abra.getAbraSync(“STYLN_elections_notifications”);// Only actually have control situation in prd and stg
    return[“www.nytimes.com”,”www.stg.nytimes.com”].includes(window.location.hostname)||(a=”STYLN_elections_notifications”),a||”0_control”}function reportData(){if(window.dataLayer){var a;try{a=dataLayer.find(function(a){return!!a.user}).user}catch(a){}var b={abtest:{test:”styln-elections-notifications”,variant:getVariant()},module:{name:”styln-elections-notifications”,label:getVariant(),region:”TOP_BANNER”},user:a};window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({},b,{event:”ab-alloc”})),window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({},b,{event:”ab-expose”})),window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({},b,{event:”impression”}))}}function insertNotification(a,b){// Bail here if the user is in control
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  • in

    Once a Foe of Trump, Cruz Leads a Charge to Reverse His Election Loss

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    Electoral College Results

    Election Disinformation

    Full Results

    Biden Transition Updates

    “),e+=””+b+””,e+=””,d&&(e+=””,e+=””,e+=”Live”,e+=””),e+=””,e}function getVariant(){var a=window.NYTD&&window.NYTD.Abra&&window.NYTD.Abra.getAbraSync&&window.NYTD.Abra.getAbraSync(“STYLN_elections_notifications”);// Only actually have control situation in prd and stg
    return[“www.nytimes.com”,”www.stg.nytimes.com”].includes(window.location.hostname)||(a=”STYLN_elections_notifications”),a||”0_control”}function reportData(){if(window.dataLayer){var a;try{a=dataLayer.find(function(a){return!!a.user}).user}catch(a){}var b={abtest:{test:”styln-elections-notifications”,variant:getVariant()},module:{name:”styln-elections-notifications”,label:getVariant(),region:”TOP_BANNER”},user:a};window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({},b,{event:”ab-alloc”})),window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({},b,{event:”ab-expose”})),window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({},b,{event:”impression”}))}}function insertNotification(a,b){// Bail here if the user is in control
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  • in

    Republicans Begin New Congress Feuding Over Bid to Overturn Election

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    Electoral College Results

    Election Disinformation

    Full Results

    Biden Transition Updates

    “),e+=””+b+””,e+=””,d&&(e+=””,e+=””,e+=”Live”,e+=””),e+=””,e}function getVariant(){var a=window.NYTD&&window.NYTD.Abra&&window.NYTD.Abra.getAbraSync&&window.NYTD.Abra.getAbraSync(“STYLN_elections_notifications”);// Only actually have control situation in prd and stg
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    Pence Welcomes Futile Bid by G.O.P. Lawmakers to Overturn Election

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyPence Welcomes Futile Bid by G.O.P. Lawmakers to Overturn ElectionVice President Mike Pence signaled his support as 11 Republican senators and senators-elect said that they would vote to reject President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory.The group, led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, brings to nearly one-quarter the proportion of Senate Republicans who have broken with their leaders to join the effort to invalidate the victory of Joseph R. Biden Jr.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York TimesJan. 2, 2021Updated 8:35 p.m. ETWASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence signaled support on Saturday for a futile Republican bid to overturn the election in Congress next week, after 11 Republican senators and senators-elect said that they would vote to reject President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory when the House and Senate meet to formally certify it.The announcement by the senators — and Mr. Pence’s move to endorse it — reflected a groundswell among Republicans to defy the unambiguous results of the election and indulge President Trump’s attempts to remain in power with false claims of voting fraud.Every state in the country has certified the election results after verifying their accuracy, many following postelection audits or hand counts. Judges across the country, and a Supreme Court with a conservative majority, have rejected nearly 60 attempts by Mr. Trump and his allies to challenge the results.And neither Mr. Pence nor any of the senators who said they would vote to invalidate the election has made a specific allegation of fraud, instead offering vague suggestions that some wrongdoing might have occurred and asserting that many of their supporters believe that it has.The senators’ opposition to certifying Mr. Biden’s election will not change the outcome. But it guarantees that what would normally be a perfunctory session on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to ratify the results of the presidential election will instead become a partisan brawl, in which Republicans amplify specious claims of widespread election rigging that have been debunked and dismissed for weeks even as Mr. Trump has stoked them.The spectacle promises to set a caustic backdrop for Mr. Biden’s inauguration in the coming weeks and reflects the polarized politics on Capitol Hill that will be among his greatest challenges.It will also pose a political dilemma for Republicans, forcing them to choose between accepting the results of a democratic election — even if it means angering supporters who dislike the outcome and could punish them at the polls — and joining their colleagues in displaying unflinching loyalty to Mr. Trump, who has demanded in increasingly angry fashion that they back his bid to cling to the presidency.The conundrum is especially acute for Mr. Pence, who as president of the Senate has the task of presiding over Wednesday’s proceedings and declaring Mr. Biden the winner, but has his own future political aspirations to consider as well. On Friday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by House Republicans to pressure Mr. Pence to do otherwise, and instead unilaterally overturn the results.But on Saturday evening, Marc Short, his chief of staff, issued a statement saying that Mr. Pence “shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election.”The vice president, the statement continued, “welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on Jan. 6th.”Vice President Mike Pence, as president of the Senate, has the task of presiding over Wednesday’s proceedings and declaring Mr. Biden the winner.Credit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesIn a joint statement on Saturday, the Senate Republicans — including seven senators and four who are to be sworn in on Sunday — called for a 10-day audit of election returns in “disputed states,” and said they would vote to reject the electors from those states until one was completed. They did not elaborate on which states.The group is led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and includes Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana, and Senators-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.Together with Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who announced this week that he would object to Congress’s certification of the election results, they bring to nearly one-quarter the proportion of Senate Republicans who have broken with their leaders to join the effort to invalidate Mr. Biden’s victory. In the House, where a band of conservatives has been plotting the last-ditch election objection for weeks, more than half of Republicans joined a failed lawsuit seeking to overturn the will of the voters, and more are expected to support the effort to challenge the results in Congress next week.Representative Mo Brooks, Republican of Alabama, has said he will object to certifying the results, and with Mr. Hawley’s support, that challenge would hold weight, prompting senators and representatives to retreat to their chambers on opposite sides of the Capitol for a two-hour debate and then a vote on whether to disqualify a state’s votes. Both the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate would have to agree to toss out a state’s electoral votes — something that has not happened since the 19th century and is not expected to this time.In their statement, the Republicans cited poll results showing most members of their party believe the election was “rigged,” an assertion that Mr. Trump has made for months, and which has been repeated in the right-wing news media and by many Republican members of Congress.“A fair and credible audit — conducted expeditiously and completed well before Jan. 20 — would dramatically improve Americans’ faith in our electoral process and would significantly enhance the legitimacy of whoever becomes our next president,” they wrote. “We are acting not to thwart the democratic process, but rather to protect it.”They also acknowledged that their effort was likely to be unsuccessful, given that any such challenge must be sustained by both the House, where Democrats hold the majority, and the Senate, where top Republicans including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, have tried to shut it down.“We fully expect most if not all Democrats, and perhaps more than a few Republicans, to vote otherwise,” the senators wrote.Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee with jurisdiction over federal elections, called the Republican effort a “publicity stunt” that would ultimately fail, but said it was dangerous nevertheless, amounting to “an attempt to subvert the will of the voters.” She noted in an interview that hundreds of millions of votes had already been “counted, recounted, litigated and state-certified” across the country.“These baseless claims have already been examined and dismissed by Trump’s own attorney general, dozens of courts and election officials from both parties,” said Mike Gwin, a spokesman for Mr. Biden’s campaign.While lawmakers have sought to register their opposition to past presidential election results by challenging Congress’s certification, the move has generally been more symbolic than substantive, given that the loser had already conceded and senators rarely joined with members of the House to force a vote. But as Mr. Trump continues to perpetuate the myth of widespread voter fraud, a growing number of Republicans in Congress have been eager to challenge the results, either out of devotion to the president or out of fear of enraging the base of their party that still reveres him even in defeat.That is the case even though the vast majority of them just won elections in the very same balloting they are now claiming was fraudulently administered.Mr. McConnell has discouraged senators from joining the House effort, and Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, told reporters the challenge to the election results would fail in the Senate “like a shot dog,” prompting a Twitter rebuke from Mr. Trump.Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, on Thursday condemned the attempt, calling it a “dangerous ploy” intended to “disenfranchise millions of Americans.” He accused fellow Republicans of making a political calculation to try to further their careers at the expense of the truth by tapping into Mr. Trump’s “populist base.”But Josh Holmes, a Republican strategist and Mr. McConnell’s former chief of staff, warned that those involved in the effort would come to regret their stance.“Rarely can you predict with 100% assurance that years from now everyone who went down this road will wish they had a mulligan,” Mr. Holmes wrote on Twitter.Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican who has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2022, also blasted the effort, saying that Mr. Hawley, Mr. Cruz and others were “directly” undermining the “right of the people to elect their own leaders.”For years, Mr. Trump has railed against contests in which he lost, disliked the outcome or feared he might be defeated. He objected to the results of the Emmys, falsely claimed President Barack Obama did not win the popular vote, asserted that Mr. Cruz “stole” a primary victory from him in Iowa in 2016 and predicted that the election in which he defeated the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would be “rigged.” In the months leading up to November’s election, he also warned that he would be cheated out of a victory, and refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.As Mr. Biden racked up victories in November, Mr. Trump indulged in increasingly outlandish fictions, spreading disinformation about the election’s results and encouraging his followers to challenge the vote at every step. In recent weeks, as his legal defeats have stacked up, the president has become more vitriolic in his condemnations of Republicans who fail to support his false claims of having been the true victor in the election, and has lavished praise on those who parrot his accusations.On Saturday, Mr. Trump cheered on the Republican senators who announced they would object to certifying the election, writing on Twitter: “Our country will love them for it!”The vote tally and procedures in every battleground state that Mr. Trump contests have been affirmed through multiple postelection audits. Mr. Biden won the election with over seven million more votes than Mr. Trump and with 306 Electoral College votes, surpassing the threshold of 270 needed to win the presidency.Nevertheless, more than a month after Mr. Biden’s victory, with increasing numbers in their party marching in lock step with Mr. Trump, some Republicans felt the need on Saturday to explain why they planned to vote to uphold the results of a democratic election.“I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and that is what I will do Jan. 6,” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in a statement. She is to face voters next November.Senator Mitt Romney of Utah warned of the consequences of backing a bid to subvert the election’s outcome.“I could never have imagined seeing these things in the greatest democracy in the world,” he said in a statement. “Has ambition so eclipsed principle?”Maggie Haberman More

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    What Will Pence Do When Congress Counts the Votes?

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyOpinionSupported byContinue reading the main storyletterSWhat Will Pence Do When Congress Counts the Votes?Readers are shocked that the question is being asked and speculate that the vice president may find an excuse not to be present. They also criticize Senator Josh Hawley.Jan. 1, 2021, 2:30 p.m. ET Credit…Tom Brenner/The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Will Pence Do the Right Thing?,” by Neal K. Katyal and John Monsky (Op-Ed, Dec. 30):It is truly sad that Mr. Katyal and Mr. Monsky felt compelled to educate us and to question whether Vice President Mike Pence will do the right thing and simply preside over the counting of the electoral votes. Is this what our nation has come to — wondering whether the vice president will abide by the people’s will or try to subvert it to please his megalomaniac boss?The fact that we even have to think and talk about this points to the corrosive actions by Donald Trump, his congressional Republican allies and the 74 million people who voted for him. Collectively, they are all responsible for nearly destroying our democracy.Fortunately for us, as the authors write, any effort to change the vote “is doomed to fail.” Come Jan. 20, Joe Biden will be sworn as our next president, and hopefully Trumpism will end up in the dustpan of history.Michael HadjiargyrouCenterport, N.Y.To the Editor:Here’s my bet: Vice President Mike Pence will not “do the right thing” but instead will produce some tenuous rationale to avoid presiding over the electoral vote count on Jan. 6. Senator Charles Grassley, president pro tempore, a Republican who has already acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory, will properly step in as presiding officer. The count will proceed and will be officially announced by Mr. Grassley.Mr. Pence will not appear to defy President Trump. And the electoral process will take its course toward Mr. Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20 while preserving the fiction that his victory was illegitimate.Chris HockerRedding, Conn.To the Editor:Re “Missouri Senator Says He’ll Join Election Challenge” (news article, Dec. 31):I wish people would stop saying confidently that Senator Josh Hawley’s challenge won’t change anything. Yes, most likely it won’t. Yet before November 2016, there was just as much confidence that Donald Trump wouldn’t be president. We know how that went.Michael J. GallagherCortland, N.Y.To the Editor:Thank you, Josh Hawley, for shaming our state of Missouri by challenging the election of Joe Biden — a clear example of naked self-interest without regard for the good of America.Sandra CurtissWildwood, Mo.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    The ‘Resistance’ Formed Because of Trump, With an Assist From Jon Ossoff

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    Electoral College Results

    Election Disinformation

    Full Results

    Biden Transition Updates

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    Cutest Couple, Class Clown and a Competitive Year for D.C. Superlatives

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storyOpinionSupported byContinue reading the main storyCutest Couple, Class Clown and a Competitive Year for D.C. SuperlativesThe year’s best, worst and weirdest political operatives.Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board.Dec. 29, 2020Credit…Illustration by The New York TimesThis year was a soul-crushing hellscape of a dumpster fire. For sanity’s sake, large chunks of it should be repressed as soon as possible.The rolling crises did, however, have a clarifying effect on the political scene. Some players rose to meet the moment. Others sank, and there was no bottom. This sorting should be remembered, especially as many of these public eminences begin scurrying to rehabilitate their brands. Their 2020 achievements, such as they were, should be memorialized with superlatives that capture who they revealed themselves to be. Think high school yearbook distinctions, only with real-world implications.Don’t look for President Trump on this list. In a class by himself, he was deemed ineligible for consideration. The competition would have been grossly unfair with such a dominant force. As for the rest of the swamp …Most Committed BootlickerSenator Lindsey GrahamThis was a hotly contested category, but at the end of the day, no one could outdo the South Carolina Republican.Most InauthenticSenator Kelly LoefflerTalk about a total makeover: The Georgia Republican, appointed to her seat last December, morphed from posh, moderate, mainstream suburban-mom bait to bomb-throwing, ball-cap-wearing, right-wing culture warrior faster than you can say “political opportunism.”Class ClownRudy GiulianiThe early Trump years had already shifted Rudy’s identity from America’s Mayor to the president’s unhinged apparatchik. But 2020 was when he totally lost the thread, devolving into numerous cautionary tales and internet memes. There was his runny hair dye. (Or was it mascara?) The time he “tucked in his shirt” for Borat’s daughter. The Four Seasons Total Landscaping news conference held near a porn shop and a crematory. The fart. (Go on. Google it.) 2021 can’t come soon enough.DreamiestDr. Anthony FauciBack in January, who could have predicted that one of the year’s biggest heartthrobs would be an 80-year-old government immunologist?AngstiestSenator Susan CollinsWhatever the occasion, the Maine Republican can be counted on to express her deep yet meaningless concern.Cutest CoupleNancy Pelosi and Steven MnuchinThe House speaker and the Treasury secretary spent so much time and energy hammering out Covid relief deals. Most marriages don’t require that much work.Most DisappointingRepresentative Elise StefanikSince her 2014 election, the New York Republican had pitched herself as the sane, moderate future of her party, with a special focus on improving its reputation with women. So it’s been particularly galling to watch her carry water for the most antidemocratic, misogynistic president in memory.Most DisappointedSenator Elizabeth WarrenAfter so much promise and so many plans, the Massachusetts Democrat didn’t win even the progressive wing of her party, which went for Uncle Bernie.Largest InvertebrateBasically the entire Senate Republican conferenceMost Likely to Sell His Soul for More PowerSenate Republican leader Mitch McConnellKidding, of course. He made that transaction ages ago.Biggest TeaseJohn Bolton, former national security adviserAll that bragging about insider secrets just to hawk a book. He should have testified in the House’s impeachment inquiry.Most Likely to SucceedPete ButtigiegIf anyone can make Infrastructure Week really happen, it will be President-elect Joe Biden’s overachieving, wonk-chic pick to head the Transportation Department.Most Likely to Stage a Failed Coup AttemptRepresentative Louie GohmertSuing Vice President Mike Pence in a convoluted, last-ditch effort to overturn the election results and keep Mr. Trump in office? That’s some next-level sycophancy.Best NapperCommerce Secretary Wilbur RossMost Likely to End Up on ‘Dancing With the Stars’Kimberly GuilfoyleWarning: Might not be suitable for children.Most Clutch PlayerRepresentative Jim ClyburnIt is barely an exaggeration to say that Mr. Biden owes his presidency to the well-timed endorsement from the dean of South Carolina Democratic politics.Most Likely to Be the Next ‘Tiger King’Representative Matt GaetzWith or without his gas mask, the Trump wannabe is the ultimate Florida Man.Most PersistentJoe BidenIt took a once-in-a-century pandemic and the most appalling incumbent in history, but he finally won the office he’d been eyeing for more than three decades.Most Obviously Auditioning to Be a Fox News HostA tossup.Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, has the edge when it comes to execution, but Jenna Ellis, one of the president’s lawyers, gets points for trying so hard.Most Likely to Be a Character on ‘Succession’Steven MnuchinThis hopefully will not conflict with his true calling as the next Bond villain.Most CorruptA 20-to-30-way tieWith this administration, the category was impossible to whittle down.Best Team PlayerSenator Bernie SandersThe Vermont lefty may be shouty and crabby, but he recognized that unifying Democratic voters swiftly and with minimal squabbling was key to saving the nation from a second Trump term.Most DegradedMike PenceIt was bad enough when he was on track to be remembered for his dead-on imitation of flypaper. But now, after four years of thankless obsequiousness, he’s being dragged into Trumpworld’s crackpot crusade to overturn the election results. The Constitution tasks the vice president with presiding over Congress’s counting of the Electoral College votes. MAGA types are pressuring him to hand Mr. Trump the win. The V.P. is looking at a rough January.Biggest Threat to American DemocracyAttorney General Bill BarrThis is what happens when the nation’s top law enforcement official puts his boss’s individual interests above the rule of law.In for the Rudest AwakeningJavankaIvanka Trump and Jared Kushner have had loads of fun playing at government and diplomacy while shielded from any real accountability. Post-presidency, their lives will likely get more complicated — socially, politically and perhaps even legally.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    How Trump's Attack on Relief Bill Has Divided GOP

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesThe Stimulus DealThe Latest Vaccine InformationF.A.Q.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTrump’s Attack on Coronavirus Relief Divides G.O.P. and Threatens RecoveryFrom the campaign trail in Georgia to Capitol Hill, President Trump’s demand for changes to the $900 billion pandemic relief plan upended political and economic calculations.President Trump posted a video on Tuesday night demanding significant changes to the pandemic relief bill and larger direct stimulus checks to Americans.Credit…Oliver Contreras for The New York TimesLuke Broadwater, Emily Cochrane, Astead W. Herndon and Dec. 23, 2020WASHINGTON — President Trump’s denunciation of the $900 billion coronavirus relief deal drove a wedge through the Republican Party on Wednesday, drawing harsh criticism from House Republicans and threatening the delivery of unemployment checks, a reprieve on evictions and direct payments to struggling Americans.His four-minute video on Tuesday night demanding significant changes to the bill and larger direct stimulus checks also complicated his party’s push to hold the Senate with victories in two runoff races in Georgia next month. The Republican candidates he pledged to support went from campaigning on their triumphant votes for the relief bill to facing questions on Mr. Trump’s view that the measure was a “disgrace.”Their Democratic rivals appeared to turn a liability into a political advantage 13 days before the election on Jan. 5, agreeing with the president’s demand for $2,000 direct payment checks and calling for Republicans to accede to his wish. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Democrats prepared to move forward on Thursday with new legislation that would provide the $2,000 checks, daring Republicans to break with the president and block passage of the bill in the House.But the effect on struggling Americans was perhaps the most profound: With no deal signed by the president, some unemployment programs are set to run out this week, and several other critical provisions are to end this month. The uncertainty that Mr. Trump injected into the process came at a perilous moment for the economy, as consumer spending and personal incomes resumed their slides.“Does the president realize that unemployment benefits expire the day after Christmas?” an exasperated Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and one of the key negotiators of the package, wrote on Twitter.It is not clear whether Mr. Trump, who is furious at congressional Republicans who have acknowledged his defeat, would actually veto the package. But given how late it is in the 116th Congress, even refusing to sign it could ensure that the bill dies with the Congress on Jan. 3 and must be taken up all over again next year.The 5,593-page spending package would not only provide relief but also fund the government through September. With his threat, the president raised the prospects of a government shutdown beyond Monday and also jeopardized a promise of swift relief to millions of struggling Americans and businesses.Mr. Trump on Wednesday also made good on his promise to veto a major defense policy bill, in part because it directed the military to strip the names of Confederate generals from bases. That sets up a showdown for next week; when the House returns on Monday for the override vote, it could also vote on another stopgap spending bill to prevent government funding from lapsing.Before the turmoil, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had promised that $600 direct payments from the pandemic relief bill could be distributed as early as next week; that is an untenable timeline without Mr. Trump’s signature. The end to two expanded unemployment programs the day after Christmas could push nearly five million people into poverty virtually overnight, according to an estimate from researchers at Columbia University.Some state labor departments — which administer both state and federal unemployment benefits — are already preparing for the end of the programs because of the delay in reaching an agreement, meaning some jobless workers may temporarily lose their benefits all the same because many states will not be able to reverse course in time to avoid a lapse in payments.Frustration with Mr. Trump boiled over on Wednesday during a private conference call of House Republicans who had loyally stood by the president; many of them had joined a baseless lawsuit to try to overturn the results of the election. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, told members that he had spoken to the president and that he had not yet committed to a veto of the bill.But Mr. McCarthy conceded, “This bill has been tainted,” according to one person on the call.“The bill has been tainted,” Representative Kevin McCarthy of California told House Republicans on a private conference call on Wednesday.Credit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesIn his videotaped statement on Tuesday, Mr. Trump accused lawmakers of putting aid for foreign governments before the needs of the American people.Some lawmakers on the call complained about the pork projects in the spending measure; others chimed in to challenge the characterization of the projects as pork, and one longtime House Republican vented generally about voter perceptions of the package after Mr. Trump’s scathing critique.“I don’t know if we recover from this,” said Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina, according to three officials on the call. “We will have a hell of a time getting this out of people’s head.”The Coronavirus Outbreak More