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.
The Federal Reserve is monitoring the COVID-19 issue and its economic effects, according to a release from the central bank, attributed to Chairman Jerome Powell, released Friday.
Jessica Curtin joined the Compliance Risk organization of Paychex in October 2016 as a retirement, FSA and HSA compliance analyst. In this role, she is responsible for regulatory compliance of the Paychex retirement and Section 125 products, government and industry group relations, and business partner consulting. Jessica received her BS in finance from the Rochester Institute of Technology,and also holds the ASPPA designations of Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA), Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA), and Tax Exempt and Governmental Plan Consultant (TGPC).
With the world gripped in panic over the rapid spread of the coronavirus — and the stock market falling in response — payments companies have been left to speculate on what it all means to their operations in an increasingly global economy.
“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.