Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill the “Pelosi Payoff” on Tuesday, saying that people should stop calling it “COVID relief.”
McCarthy noted other expenditures outlined in the bill that are not related to COVID-19 relief, including $50 million for Planned Parenthood, “$21k for federal workers to stay at home,” and a “$25k bonus for state government workers.” (RELATED: Sen. Toomey Digs Through COVID-19 Relief Bill, Says He Found ‘Tens Of Billions Of Dollars’ In Unnecessary Spending)
Stop calling it a “COVID relief” bill pic.twitter.com/We8lKrVt7r
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 9, 2021
McCarthy also criticized the bill in a Fox News op-ed. McCarthy said that Democrats “are using the coronavirus as an excuse to justify funding pet projects” and wrote that “about a third of the entire cost of the bill” won’t be spent for “another two years.”
“At $1.9 trillion, it is the single most expensive bill in history. But don’t call it a rescue or relief bill. Call it a Pelosi Payoff. Because the amount of money that actually goes to funding public health is less than nine percent.”
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the bill “very liberal and purely partisan” and denounced Democrats for rejecting every one of the Republicans’ “commonsense changes” such as ensuring “that direct checks would only go to citizens and legal residents, and not to people in prison.”
The Senate passed the bill on Saturday.