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.
Oswaldo Acosta is CEO of City First Enterprises, a Washington, D.C., community Development Financial Institution.
Mike joined Simply Business in April 2018 and is Vice President of Insurance Panel and Partnerships and a member of the US Executive Leadership Team. In his role, Mike is responsible for driving product growth with new and existing panel insurance carriers as well as expanding Simply Business's distribution reach through strategic partners. Collaborating with insurance carriers, Mike's team helps bring new insurance products to market that benefit business owners while meeting small business customers where they are via distribution partnerships.
Mike brings 20 years of commercial property and casualty experience to Simply Business, having had previous underwriting and distribution roles at Liberty Mutual Insurance. Mike earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Bentley University in 2003 and his CPCU designation in 2009. Mike resides in the Greater Boston area with his wife and two sons.
“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.