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.
Michael Stuart is a behavioral healthcare leader with more than 30 years' diverse experience, ranging from executive management in large behavioral healthcare systems to teaching daily living skills to autistic children. Mike has worked with tens of thousands of people, with a focus on actionable, tangible steps to integrate health and wellness into everyday life. He specializes in teaching the importance of developing and utilizing a strong mindset to address and overcome health and wellness challenges, including addiction and mental well-being. As the Executive Director at AllOne Health EAP, he leads the team in delivering EAP and whole health benefits to organizations, employees and their family members.
During her college experience, Sara changed majors multiple times — and found it hard to retain what she was learning without being able to apply it to a specific career path. Upon graduation with her Associate's Degree, Sara was struggling to find a job and debated pursuing her Bachelor's, only to realize her peers with a four-year degree were also struggling in the job market. When she saw a TikTok advertising an opportunity to earn money while being trained for a successful tech career, without having to sit in another lecture hall, she knew she had to try it. Over a year later, she's a data analyst apprentice at Intermountain Health and championing apprenticeships for those who know college isn't their route to success.
The Reverend Luis Cortés Jr. is founder & CEO of Esperanza.
“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.