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.
Jeffrey McNeal, an enrolled agent, has been involved with tax resolution since 2010. He previously worked as a senior revenue officer in the Internal Revenue Service’s Small Business/Self Employed division, within the Houston, Texas territory. He was tasked with coaching other revenue officers in correct procedure adherence, application of directive and policy statements, along with developing templates and tools as part of the ongoing territory quality improvement. Currently, he serves as the product manager for Canopy’s post-filing product, which includes tax resolution, notices, transcripts and CPE.
Martijn Grooten had been an academic mathematician when, by chance, he found himself working in security in 2007. He has not regretted this move since. He is the current Editor of Virus Bulletin and is regularly quoted in the media as an experts on a wide range of aspects of cyber security, from malware to cryptography to email security. He has also spoken at various security conferences including RSA, Botconf and TROOPERS.
As co-founder and CEO of AccountantsWorld, Dr. Chandra Bhansali has been serving the accounting profession for the past 35 years. He is recognized throughout the accounting industry as a pioneer in developing cloud technology for accountants. A thought leader on best practices for accounting firms, Dr. Bhansali has authored numerous articles and whitepapers, and he is frequently featured in professional accounting publications as an expert on the implementation of leading-edge technology into accounting practices. He has been consistently named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today magazine for the past decade.
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.