McConnell rules out passing House bill on $2K relief payments

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.

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.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT: ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
Alec Miloslavsky

Alec Miloslavsky has more than 20 years of experience in technology and entrepreneurial leadership. Prior to EIS, he co-founded Exigen Services (now Return on Intelligence), a company that has grown to revenues exceeding $70 million. Earlier in his career, Alec co-founded Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories and served as CTO from its inception where he helped lead the company to its successful initial public offering and subsequent sale to Alcatel for $1.9 billion in 1999. Following the acquisition, he played a key role with the integration of Genesys into the Alcatel organization.

As Globant's Chief Operations Officer, Patricia is responsible for sustainably growing the company's operations, and enabling it to execute its strategy with maximum value for clients and stakeholders. She also focuses on turning strategy into actionable targets for growth, helping to implement organization-wide goal setting and performance management. She is an advocate for having more women in management positions and recognizing the gender gap in the tech industry, for this reason, she has actively participated in Globant's Women that Build program.

Adam Rust

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.

mcconnell-mitch-senate-mask-lights.jpg
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, center, wears a protective mask while walking through the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Ting Shen/Bloomberg

“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.