Politics

Sen. Toomey Digs Through COVID-19 Relief Bill, Says He Found ‘Tens Of Billions Of Dollars’ In Unnecessary Spending

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Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey took to Twitter on Thursday night to highlight areas of what he sees as unnecessary spending in the latest $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.

“My staff has begun scrubbing the Democrat ‘Covid-19 relief’ bill. What did we find? Tens of billions of dollars in ‘gifts’ from the American taxpayer,” read Toomey’s first tweet.

Toomey criticized the proposed spending in another tweet, saying, “When Americans buy clothes, groceries, or any goods, they typically don’t like to pay more than 100% of the listed price. But not their government.”

Toomey highlighted one section of the bill that shows the government is willing to give money to transit agencies that total 132% of their operating costs.

The senator also criticized the bill for promising $175 million in “extra money” for projects such as the San Francisco 3rd St. Light Rail, the Honolulu High Capacity Transit program and the East Side Access Project in New York City.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin declared his intention Thursday to read the entire bill, approximately 600 pages, on the Senate floor. Debate on the bill is expected to take up to 20 hours, as previously reported. (RELATED: Rep. Ron Johnson Objects To Skipping Reading Of 600-Page COVID-19 Relief Bill In Senate)

“If they’re going to add nearly $2T to the national debt at least we should know what’s in the bill,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.