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.
Cole Egger is Co-Founder and CEO of Kindly Human, the leading peer-based mental well-being solution for employers. Kindly Human provides 24/7 confidential, empathetic support for people in today's workforces who personally benefit from being heard and connected to others in meaningful ways.
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Bill joined Plymouth Rock in 2016 and is in charge of our property insurance business and reinsurance programs. Bill has over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. Bill was formerly President of Bankers Insurance, winning a Celent Model Insurer award in 2014 for simplifying homeowners insurance shopping. He also founded a startup with a new approach to flood insurance and has held senior positions at Farmers Insurance, Progressive and Travelers. Bill is a graduate of Stanford University, with a degree in Survey Data Research. He is a frequent speaker and author on insurance issues and has served on the Institute for Business and Home Safety and other safety organizations. He is an active board member of nonprofits that combat poverty and aid those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is an avid sailor, skier and trombone player.
“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.