Efforts to give seniors, veterans and people with disabilities who receive Social Security an extra $250 next year failed in Congress Wednesday.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate considered legislation to provide a new round of stimulus payments similar to those Social Security recipients received last year, but neither body approved the measure.
In the House, members voted 254 – 153 in favor of the one-time payments, but the bill required a two-thirds majority to pass. Meanwhile, in the Senate, where 60 votes were needed for passage, the vote was 53-45.
Republicans, who largely opposed the plan, said they were concerned about the payments adding to the nation’s deficit.
The one-time payments were proposed after the government announced in October that there would be no cost-of-living increase for the second year in a row.
Under the measure, more than 50 million Americans — including 5 million Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, beneficiaries — would have received a one-time payment of $250 at a cost of about $13 billion. A similar payment was issued in 2009.
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