GOP blocks Democrats’ bid for $2K payments Trump demanded

House Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempt to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to pay most Americans $2,000 to help weather the coronavirus pandemic.

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.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT: ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
Art Kuesel
March 17, 2020 5:36 PM

Now is the time to be there for your clients.

1 Min Read

Certified Petra Coach Chip Gallent has led multiple businesses across a wide variety of verticals during his 25-plus year career. He has held C-level roles at a publicly traded dot.com, a technology firm and a leading non-profit, and as an entrepreneur ran his own technology consulting/business strategy practice. A visionary change agent, Chip excels at making companies more competitive and people more effective through operational improvement enhanced with the right technology. Contact him at chip@petracoach.com.

J.D. Power survey of customer questions about coronavirus
Laura Alix
March 17, 2020 4:45 PM

Customers are increasingly concerned about taking a financial hit from the COVID-19 crisis and want to know more about fee waivers, credit-line increases and other things banks could do for them.

2 Min Read

“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.

capitol-runner.jpg
A runner stands near the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg

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.