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
Hantz Fevry, founder and CEO, Stoovo
Penny Crosman
July 27, 2020 2:34 PM

Current, Stoovo and other companies are reaching out with low-cost, low-fee financial services and even tools to help users search for part-time jobs.

9 Min Read
irs-headquarters-american-eagle-sign.jpg
Michael Cohn
July 27, 2020 12:54 PM

New regulations to help employers reconcile any advance payments of refundable employment tax credits and recapture the benefit of these credits when necessary, in line with the CARES Act and the Families First Act.

1 Min Read

Sheryll Yee is a retirement consultant at Commonwealth Financial Network. Yee assists affiliated advisors and home office staff with information and insights on retirement-related topics, including IRAs, qualified plans regarding IRS rules and regulations, retirement planning and product selection.

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.