GOP blocks Democrats’ bid for $2K payments Trump demanded

House Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempt to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to pay most Americans $2,000 to help weather the coronavirus pandemic.

House Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempt to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to pay most Americans $2,000 to help weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Republicans objected to the bill House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sought to pass by unanimous consent Thursday to replace the $600 payments in the latest pandemic relief legislation with the $2,000 payments.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT: ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

Bridget Haile is the chief customer officer at Summer, a fintech startup and certified B corporation on a mission to simplify student debt repayment and forgiveness. After years spent at the intersection of finance, tech, and human advice, she is passionate about using technology and empathy to make complex financial systems more accessible and understandable for everyone. Previously, Bridget led the Client Experience team at Ellevest, an investment platform designed to get more money into the hands of more women, and she is a graduate of Harvard University.

McKinsey will speak at the 2024 edition of American Banker's flagship event and help shape the conference's Bank of the Future experience.

3 Min Read

Megan Smith is the head of human resources for SAP North America. Over the past five years, Megan has been deeply involved as an HR leader in SAP's acquired cloud businesses in North America, the Head of HR for SAP Canada, and in 2022 expanded her responsibilities to assume the role of Head of HR for SAP North America.

“House and Senate Democrats have repeatedly fought for bigger checks for the American people, which House and Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected — first, during our negotiations when they said that they would not go above $600 and now, with this act of callousness on the Floor,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Thursday.

Democrats will try again with a roll call vote on a new bill Dec. 28, when the House also plans a vote to override Trump’s veto on the National Defense Authorization Act. Since current government spending runs out that day — and funds for the rest of the fiscal year are included in the virus relief bill Trump criticized and hasn’t signed -- the House could also pass another stopgap measure to avert a partial government shutdown.

capitol-runner.jpg
A runner stands near the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg

Republicans on Thursday tried to seek unanimous consent on a measure to examine taxpayer money spent on foreign aid, but Democrats blocked that move. In his complaint Tuesday about Congress’s combined virus aid and government spending bill, Trump criticized federal resources spent on international programs, even though that spending was allocated as part of the bipartisan appropriations process.