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.
Scott Taylor is CEO and & founder of Perx Health, a leading engagement platform for chronic conditions.
Peter Keating is an investigative financial journalist who has been reporting complex financial stories for more than 25 years. His work has been published recently by GQ, Inc., National Geographic, New York and Politico.
Keating was a founding member of ESPN’s Investigative Unit, where his longform projects included pioneering work that exposed for the first time how the NFL dealt with brain injuries. At ESPN, Keating was a frequent commentator on Outside the Lines and public speaker, making six appearances at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and was part of teams that won three National Magazine Awards. His work has also earned 10 Journalism Awards from the New York Press Club, as well as Investigative Reporters and Editors, Deadline Club and National Headliner Awards.
Keating has written four national columns: “Numbers” and “The Biz” for ESPN the Magazine (1999-2019), “The New Retirement” for Smart Money (2006-2010) and “The Advocate” for Money (1999-2000). He was the senior writer for politics at George during the 2000 presidential campaign.
Keating lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife Karen, their daughters Ellie and Samantha, and their dog, Otis.
Betsy Branagan leads the reserving and claim analytics function at Xceedance. She has over 30 years of experience in traditional actuarial roles of reserving and pricing as well as expertise in leadership, strategy, data management and organizational change.
Prior to joining Xceedance, Betsy held the position as the Appointed Actuary for Plymouth Rock Assurance Company. She managed the loss reserving and pricing functions, led the integration of data from acquired entities, and implemented new reserving tools and processes. Betsy has held leadership roles at Hanover Insurance Group, Arbella Mutual Insurance Company, AIPSO, and on a number of industry committees.
Betsy is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana State University’s Kelley School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Clark University.
“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.