Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking a Democratic effort to force a vote on upping direct payments to $2,000 per person as part of the new coronavirus stimulus package. The House voted Monday to approve the increase. McConnell said Tuesday the Senate may still consider the larger checks but will add Trump’s other demands to investigate unsubstantiated voter fraud in the presidential election and to remove liability protections for social media companies. But analysts say lumping all of Trump’s demands together makes passage of the $2,000 checks much more unlikely. Meanwhile, the Treasury said it is starting to send the $600 payments to Americans. Senators Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey and Sherrod Brown have vowed to filibuster a vote on overriding Trump’s veto of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act if McConnell refuses to hold an up-or-down vote on the $2,000 relief checks, forcing the Senate to stay in session over the New Year holiday.