Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that Republicans will be introducing a $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package after a weekend of negotiations.
The HEALS Act, which focuses on health, economic assistance, liability protection and schools, will be released later Monday and is a “tailored and targeted draft that will cut right to the heart of three distinct crises facing our country,” McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor. The three crises are “kids, jobs and health care,” according to CNN congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly.
McConnell: “We have produced a tailored and targeted draft that will cut right to the heart of three distinct crises facing our country” – kids, jobs and health care
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) July 27, 2020
“So now, we need our Democratic colleagues to reprise their part as well. They need to put aside the partisan stonewalling we saw on police reform, rediscover the spirit of urgency that got the CARES Act across the finish line, and quickly join us around the negotiating table,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.
This comes after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin visited the Capitol to work on bill text with GOP staff twice over the weekend.
Democratic leaders rejected Republicans’ $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package Thursday, saying it is “a partisan bill that will never become law.” (RELATED: Democratic Leaders In Congress Reject Republicans’ $1 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Plan)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hold a press conference on President Trump’s 2021 Budget Request on February 11, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both criticized the legislation, saying it does not go far enough.
“What we have seen so far falls very short of the challenge that we face in order to defeat the virus, and in order to open our schools and open our economy,” Pelosi said. “We have to act. And what they’re proposing falls far short.”
Schumer said the package is “a partisan bill that will never become law just so they can muster up the courage to negotiate.”
“It appears the Republican legislative response to COVID is un-unified, unserious, unsatisfactory. The Republican disarray and dithering has seriously, potentially deadly consequences for tens of millions of Americans,” Schumer continued. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Congress, White House Unlikely To Deliver Phase 4 Stimulus Before Recess, Sources Say)
More than a dozen Senate Republicans reportedly voiced serious displeasure at signing off on another $1 trillion package at Tuesday’s Conference lunch.