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.
Donny is the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, an advisory-focused CPA firm providing innovation acceleration and business transformation services for small businesses, middle market organizations, and nonprofits. He is a recognized thought leader and educator in the accounting technology, IT risk management, and performance management areas. His dedication to helping accountants and organizations strategically leverage technology while proactively managing their business and technical risk is paramount.
He is also the inspiration architect for the Center for Accounting Transformation, a mind trust of innovative thinkers and experts who help enable transformation by guiding accountants, auditors, and tax practitioners through the adoption and changes required in order to step into the future of the accounting profession. It's research-enabled courses, coaching, and competency development accelerate business transformation to #improvethworld.
Yasmin Farahi is deputy director of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending, which provides nonpartisan research, analysis and advocacy to create financial fairness and economic opportunity for all.
“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.
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.