As Congress works to pass a massive coronavirus relief bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is accusing his Democratic colleagues of trying pass a “wish list” of liberal policies.
“Are you kidding me?” McConnell fumed after reading a host of new regulations Democrats wanted to add to the relief package.
“This is the moment to debate new regulations that have nothing whatsoever to do with this crisis? That’s what they’re up to over there. The American people need to know it,” he added.
Additionally, McConnell accused Democrats of trying to push through the Green New Deal through the relief package, “Democrats won’t let us fund hospitals or save small businesses unless they get to dust off the Green New Deal.”
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He continued:
“I’d like to see Senate Democrats tell New York City doctors and nurses, who are literally overrun as we speak, that they’re filibustering hospital funding and more masks because they want to argue with the airlines over their carbon footprint.”
McConnell went on to suggest that Democrats see the situation as a “juicy political opportunity” to implement their agenda.
“They ought to be embarrassed,” he said, adding, “This is not a juicy political opportunity. This is a national emergency.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also blasted Senate Democrats for holding up the bill and urged senators to pass the relief package as soon as possible.
“We don’t have another day. We don’t have another hour. We don’t have another minute to delay acting,” she said.
On Sunday, Politico’s Jake Sherman tweeted a list of issues Democratic lawmakers had with the existing coronavirus relief package.
Democrats argued that the package did not do enough to help keep workers employed, and they said its measures did not provide enough relief to Americans suffering financial hardship.
They also voiced frustration that it did not include strong regulations for corporations that would receive federal aid regarding stock buybacks and executive salaries.
Meanwhile, Republicans accused the Democrats of trying to impose too many regulations on businesses.
Despite the hurdles, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sounded optimistic that the Senate would be able to pass the relief package on Monday.
“We look forward to a big vote today,” he said, adding, “We knocked off a bunch of things on the list already, and we’re closing out issues.”