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.
Trent Sorbe joined First International Bank & Trust (FIBT) in 2023 as the institution's first chief payments officer. He previously held senior positions at four nationwide payment card issuers as well as the FDIC.
Jaspaul Saini is a principal analyst in Celent's North American insurance practice. He is a seasoned technology executive with extensive experience in leveraging data analytics and emerging technologies to drive digital transformation in the insurance industry. Jaspaul's areas of expertise include: enterprise data strategy, cloud data platforms and modernization, master data management and data governance, business intelligence (BI) and advanced analytics, insurance core systems transformation, martech, technology assessments and roadmaps.
His previous roles have included head of the data and analytics practice at Exavalu, insurance solutions principal for HCL; data consulting director at EY and Capgemini; and AVP of data and business technology integration at Zurich North America.
Jaspaul has a MSc in IT from the University of Warwick (UK) and a Bachelor's degree in electronic engineering from Birmingham City University.
Alex Boand is the managing director of correspondent group sales at Pennymac
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.