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.
Edward L. Golding is a senior lecturer and executive director of MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy.
Max Kraus is Director of Ventures & Partnerships and is responsible for managing the Americas Venture Program at RGAX. He identifies insurtechs within the innovation ecosystem that can help RGA and its carrier clients solve operational challenges and support growth. Max has an Honours Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Ivey Business School.
Tammy Nichols Schwartz, CPCU, is the Senior Director of Data and Analytics at Guidewire, the leading provider of technology solutions to the P&C insurance industry. She has more than 20 years of experience as an actuary, underwriter, and executive at leading insurance carriers and financial institutions including Farmers Insurance and Bank of America. Prior to Guidewire, Schwartz was the Founder and CEO of Black Swan Analytics.
“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.