Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Saturday warned Democrats to abandon efforts to “restructure things” by trying to shoehorn their broader liberal agenda into the emergency economic relief package.
McConnell, in a floor speech announcing “important progress” on a massive and bipartisan economic relief package, said Democrats should avoid viewing the talks as “a political opportunity.”
McConnell described reports of a House Democratic conference call in which Majority Whip James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, called the economic relief package “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”
Democrats on the call outlined a broad wish list they hoped to pass as part of the economic relief legislation moving through Congress, including expanded broadband, infrastructure investment, and other big-ticket items.
“That is exactly the wrong approach right now,” McConnell said. “That is the kind of thinking that could bog down these urgent discussions.”
Democrats are likely to win some major additions to the legislation on healthcare spending and expanded unemployment insurance.
White House officials said Saturday the package will cost more than $2 trillion, including $700 billion in federal loans to big industries that must be paid back.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told rank-and-file lawmakers Friday she would not approve a deal with the Senate unless the bill “greatly” increases unemployment insurance and Medicaid and expands paid sick and family leave.
President Trump endorsed the progress on Capitol Hill during a Saturday afternoon news conference.
“They are all negotiating, and everyone is working hard,” Trump said. “I think we are getting very close.”
