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.
Blaine Frederick is VP of Product at Alcatraz AI, an artificial intelligence company that employs facial authentication technology to create autonomous access control solutions for enterprises. Frederick brings 20+ years of experience in the Physical Security industry with specific expertise in the Biometric space. Frederick currently serves as the VP of Product at Alcatraz AI where he leads the Product and Engineering teams. Prior to his work at Alcatraz AI, he served as Co-Founder and Principal of BDIS which provides Consultation and Professional Services for the physical security market. Previously, Frederick held the role of VP of Product for EyeLock, where he captained the firm's vision for iris authentication products and solutions in physical and logical security as well as numerous other commercial applications. Frederick also acted as the former Director of Product Management at STANLEY Security, a global division of Stanley Black & Decker where he led the creation of an industry-leading security management software suite, Commander. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.
Chris Vignone, managing director of indirect tax at Source Advisors, is a state and local tax specialist who identifies multimillion-dollar tax-saving opportunities for Fortune 1000 companies and implements operational changes for long-term business efficiency.
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.