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.
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Hardy Manges is Head of Municipal Dealer Sales at MarketAxess, responsible for new business development and strategy, training, and relationship management with dealers in the institutional municipal market. Mr. Manges joined MarketAxess in February 2016 from Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. where he was Co-Head of the Municipal Debt Capital Markets Group. Prior to that he was Head of Municipal Sales and Trading at Mitsubishi Securities. He has extensive experience in secondary municipal market liquidity and trading and has held a variety of senior positions in the municipal divisions of Alex. Brown & Sons, BankersTrust and Deutsche Bank. Mr. Manges received an M.B.A. in Finance from Loyola University Maryland and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Denison University.
Mitch Wein is Vice President of Research and Consulting at Novarica with international expertise in IT leadership and transformation as well as technology strategy for life, annuities, health, personal lines, commercial lines, wealth management and banking. Prior to joining Novarica he served in a series of senior technology management positions at major insurance and banking firms including AXA from 2004-2014 where he was the Interim CIO of AXA Ireland in Dublin, the Chief Architect and Head Of CTO for AXA UK in London and the CTO of AXA Equitable in the US. Prior to AXA, Mitch was with AIG from 1996-2004 where he was the CTO for the Domestic Brokerage Group and Domestic Personal Lines as well as holding other senior technology roles. Prior to 1996, Mitch held a variety of technology positions in large financial service firms. Mitch holds a BS in Finance and a MBA in Information Systems both from Fordham University.
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.