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.
Jeffrey S. Luechtefeld is a shareholder in the Tax Controversy and Litigation Section of Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams, and Aughtry in Atlanta, Georgia. Luechtefeld's practice focuses on resolving tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, administratively or through litigation. He previously was a special trial attorney for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel as well as a regional leader of the tax controversy practice for a big four accounting firm. Luechtefeld can be reached at 404.658.5462 or jeff.luechtefeld@chamberlainlaw.com.
As Vice President, Decision Science and AI at RGA, Petr Vaclav leads data analytics, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives for business units, clients, ventures, and acquisitions across RGA's Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.
An expert in data science, he specializes in digital distribution, bancassurance, predictive underwriting, and other topics and serves as a bridge between the reinsurer's Global Data and Analytics team, its internal and external clients, and partners.
Ryan Frazier is co-founder and CEO of Arrived Homes.
“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.