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
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Dana Edwards is focused on designing and developing digital products for the US and UK Simply Business businesses. He has a track record of running product, technology, and data teams using the latest customer-centric, agile practices.
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Dana joined Simply Business in 2022 with an extensive background in financial services. Previously, he held roles as Chief Technology Officer for firms such as PNC Financial Services and MUFG Union Bank. His career started with roles in product and technology development, and academics

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Sam Rea is the chief technology officer at Aspire General Insurance, bringing over 20 years of experience leading IT organizations in the insurance industry. Prior to joining Aspire, he served as CTO for the PEAK6 InsurTech portfolio, overseeing technology across an agency franchise, MGA, SaaS platform, BPO service, and a national flood insurance processor. He previously held senior roles at National General Insurance as EVP and CIO, and at Zurich Insurance as assistant vice president.

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Curt Hess is the U.S. Executive President at Vitesse, where he is leading the company's strategic expansion in the American insurance market. Curt brings over 25 years of experience across fintech and global banking, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at 10x Banking, helping scale operations at one of the UK's most innovative fintech firms. Prior to that, Curt held multiple C-level roles during a 12-year tenure at Barclays, including Chief Executive Officer of the US Consumer Bank and Chief Executive Officer of Europe Retail and Business Banking. Earlier in his career, Curt held senior finance leadership positions at Citi as well as with Bank of America in the U.S. His deep expertise in digital transformation, operational scale, and client-centric innovation uniquely positions him to drive Vitesse's U.S. momentum in the insurance space.

“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.

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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.