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.
Tom McFarland leads Novidea's UK product roadmap and business analysis function. Through his industry expertise, close relationship with existing clients and engagement with prospects, Tom ensures the delivery and ongoing enhancement of Novidea's platform provides added value to brokers and MGAs. Tom holds strong partnerships within the insurtech community, enabling practitioners to benefit from a connected insurance ecosystem. Having spent time in operations roles within Specialty Broking and Delegated Authority, Tom's comprehensive understanding of the challenges at each stage of the insurance value chain ensures that the Novidea platform solves the challenges of today and prevents the problems of tomorrow. Tom is keen to drive transformation across the industry, particularly within the Specialty and Lloyd's markets, where there is enormous opportunity for technological modernisation and adoption.
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“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.