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.
It’s a strict move for a firm whose advisors are known for a retail approach to client service and acquisition.
Ennie Lim is the CEO and co-founder of HoneyBee, a Certified Benefit Corporation with a mission to re-imagine financial health support in the workplace. HoneyBee’s holistic financial wellness platform provides employees with on-demand financial education and access to emergency funds for life’s unexpected expenses.
She currently sits on the governing board of the NCHRA, one of the nation's largest HR associations representing over 30,000 HR professionals.
Eric Kim is a director in Fitch Ratings higher education and non-profit institutions group. Eric joined Fitch in March 2007, and he works on credit analysis for new bond offerings, as well as surveillance of existing ratings in a variety of sectors including higher education & non-profits, tax-backed, water and sewer, healthcare, and public power. Eric was previously chief of staff for the first deputy commissioner at the New York City (NYC) Taxi and Limousine Commission for two and a half years. He also worked as a project manager at the Lower Manhattan Borough Commissioners Office in the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT). Eric began his career as a NYC Urban Fellow, providing research and analytical support in the commissioners office at the DOT. Eric earned a BA from Brown University and an MPA with a public finance specialization from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York 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.


