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.
Employee Benefit News' March/April issue explores how workplaces are navigating pandemic challenges and making plans to return to the office.
Chris Scappa is head of advanced client solutions and support for Paya.
As President of Ally Invest, Lule is responsible for Ally Invest Securities, Ally Invest Advisors, and API business lines. Prior to joining Ally Invest, Lule was the Managing Director of Investment Products & Digital Guidance at TD Ameritrade. Previously, Lule worked for leading investment firms such as Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Merrill Lynch as a product manager, product developer, and a financial advisor. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Smith College, an M.B.A from Columbia Business School, a CIMA designation from the Investments & Wealth Institute (formerly IMCA) and the 7, 66 and 24 securities licenses. While at business school Lule won both the coveted Toigo Foundation and Goldman Sachs Fellowships.
“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.


