Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday closed off chances that the Senate would pass anytime soon a House bill that would give most Americans $2,000 stimulus payments.
The Kentucky Republican said the House legislation, approved in a bipartisan vote Monday, “has no realistic path” to quick passage in the Senate and that it falls short of the demands of President Donald Trump. He again blocked an attempt by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to adopt the House bill to increase the payments to $2,000 from the $600 by unanimous consent.
Mr. Belinsky joined Frasca & Associates in 2011 and has more than 30 years of government and finance experience, specializing in financial, strategic, and transactional advisory for airports and infrastructure development projects. Mr. Belinsky currently leads Frasca’s P3 financial advisory efforts. Mr. Belinsky had a significant role in the LaGuardia CTB $4 billion Replacement Project for Frasca.He is advising the Los Angeles World Airports on its $5.5 billion P3 Landside Access Modernization Program, the San Diego Regional Airport Authority on its new FIS facility and ADP project. He has advised the City of Kansas City ATAG committee on future Terminal development at MCI.As part of these projects, Mr. Belinsky has reviewed and evaluated capital programs, financing structures and assisted in the development of alternative financing structures as well as the procurement process.
Ash Shilkin is president of Ivy
Peter Weill is a senior research scientist and chair of the Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
The Senate instead will work on combining the stimulus payments with measures on election integrity and rolling back social media liability protections, he said. That responds to all three issues Trump has said he wants, but a bill combining them likely will alienate enough senators in both parties to leave prospects for bigger stimulus payments dead in the Senate.
“The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of the Democrats’ rich friends who don’t need the help,” McConnell said. The House bill would raise the income cutoff to receive a payment.
The clash over the payments also is entangling another piece of year-end business in the Senate — a vote to override Trump’s veto of a crucial $740.5 billion defense policy bill. Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey said they will continue to delay the defense legislation vote unless McConnell relents and allows a vote on a standalone bill on the bigger stimulus checks.
“We are saying to Mitch McConnell, to allow the United States Senate to do what it’s supposed to do, and that is the vote,” Sanders told reporters. “The House passed the bill, it’s over here right now. Do you want to vote against it? Then vote against it.”
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey later blocked an attempt by Sanders to call up the House bill for a roll call vote.