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.
Matthew McKelvey is president of the McKelvey Group with over 25 years of experience in finance, accounting, government contracting, business valuations, process optimization and training. Matt is well known for his expertise in working with organizations as they seek to enter or grow their footprint in the Federal Government marketplace. In addition to direct client consulting in price and proposal strategies, compliance, and accounting, Matt speaks regularly and teaches courses to the Government contracting community. The subject matter of the speaking engagements and training include price/cost proposal strategies, DCAA audit preparation, compliant accounting systems, indirect cost structures, incurred cost submissions and negotiating with the federal government. The McKelvey Group is a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy-recognized continuing professional education program sponsor providing CPE credits in accordance with nationally recognized standards. Matt holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing and a BS in Finance. He is a Six Sigma Certified Black Belt, a member of the National Contract Management Association and the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, and is an Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers. For more information, visit www.themckelveygroup.com.
Rick Metsger is a member and former chairman of the National Credit Union Administration board.
Jennifer Jordan is the director of mom & baby at Aeroflow Healthcare, a medical equipment provider that has provided breast pumps through insurance to hundreds of thousands of women. A working and once-breastfeeding mom, Jennifer — along with her team — aims to support all moms on their breastfeeding journey through support, education and exceptional customer service.
“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.