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.
Martin Sapiurka is head of remittances at dLocal.
Terri Kallsen is a managing partner at Rise Growth Partners, a financial partner for middle-market RIAs, and was elected the 2025 CFP Board chair-elect.
Formerly, she was the COO of Wealth Enhancement Group leading advisor teams, platform/digital strategy and high net worth and trust services. Prior to WEG, she was executive vice president of Investor Services at Charles Schwab, leading 7,000 employees and $1.6 trillion in AUM. Her tenure at Charles Schwab was highlighted by multiple J.D. Power awards for client satisfaction.
Jeremy Thielen, CPA, PFS, is general partner of tax and wealth strategies of Thielen & Associates Inc.
“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.