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 F. Angelo CRISC CISSP, is a chief security architect at Micro Focus. Michael is active in the security community and participates in numerous international and national advisory councils. Currently, he chairs the ISSA International Webinar Committee, is a technology contributor to the BIS ISTAC and has been the co-chair of a working group striving to change the current security export regulations. Michael has also been on the RSA international symposia committee. He has also been a featured speaker at national and international security conferences, including RSA, ISSA, and InfoSec. Michael currently holds 63 US patents, with the majority being in the area of security and authentication; he is a former Sigma-Xi distinguished lecturer. Mr. Angelo was also recognized as Inventor of the Year for the City of Houston and received a TCPA lifetime achievement award. Michael is an ISSA Fellow and was named to the ISSA Hall of Fame.
Phil Klein is a partner with Capco’s wealth management practice.
“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.