For the week ending January 1
INCREASING STIMULUS CHECKS TO $2,000: Voting 275 for and 134 against, the House on Dec. 28 passed a bill (HR 9051) that would increase the latest round of COVID-19 stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and from $1,200 to $4,000 for couples, plus $600 per child. Under both this bill and a $900 billion coronavirus relief package recently enacted into law, individuals with 2019 adjusted gross incomes up to $75,000 and couples jointly earning up to $150,000 would be eligible for full payments. Individuals earning between $75,000 and $87,000 and couples in the $150,000-to-$174,000 range would receive gradually reduced sums. Full payments also would go to seniors receiving income only from Social Security, railroad retirees and veterans dependent on disability payments. The bill would add $464 billion to the cost of the previously enacted $900 billion package.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it was blocked by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
YES: Deb Haaland, D-1, Xochitl Torres Small, D-2, Ben Ray Luján, D-3
OVERRIDING TRUMP VETO OF MILITARY BUDGET: Voting 322 for and 87 against, the House on Dec. 28 surpassed
the two-thirds majority required to override President Trump’s veto of a bill (HR 6395) authorizing $740.5 billion for the U.S. military in fiscal 2021. In his veto message, Trump disputed the bill’s removal of the names of Confederate generals from American military bases, calling that a move to “wash away history.” He also faulted the bill for ignoring his call for an end to liability protections for tech companies under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, among other objections.
A yes vote was to override the veto and put the bill into law.
YES: Haaland, Torres Small, Luján
JOINING HOUSE IN VETO OVERRIDE: Voting 81 for and 13 against, the Senate on Jan. 1 joined the House (above) in overriding President Trump’s veto of the $740.5 billion military budget for fiscal 2021 (HR 6395). This was the first of Trump’s nine vetoes to meet with congressional disapproval.
A yes vote was to rebuke Trump and enact the military budget.
YES: Tom Udall, D, Martin Heinrich, D
HOUSE Deb Haaland (D) Ben Ray Luján (D) Xochitl Torres Small (D)
SENATE Martin Heinrich (D) Tom Udall (D)
Contact your legislators at the U.S. Capitol
Zip codes: House 20515, Senate 20510
Capitol operator: (202) 224-3121
