A top House Republican opposes swift action on another coronavirus rescue package, preferring to assess the impact of the $2.2 trillion in pandemic relief Congress just approved before rushing to appropriate even more money.
Rep. Patrick McHenry is the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, a key congressional panel involved in monitoring the implementation of the legislation, particularly $350 billion in emergency federal loans to cash-strapped small businesses. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, McHenry said the government should study the results of the stimulus it has already injected into the economy and figure out what the public needs next before rushing to pass yet another trillion-dollar bill.
“I don’t think, in the next couple weeks, that’s a responsible way to go,” McHenry said Wednesday during a livestreamed interview from his district in North Carolina. “Probably one-seventh of the dollars have gone out the door from the CARES Act. So, it seems to me a little tone-deaf to be talking about another package before this one is actually implemented — even halfway implemented.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began work on a fourth phase of pandemic assistance immediately after passage of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act. It met with immediate resistance from Republicans in Congress, with President Trump sending mixed signals. Some Republicans are expressing concerns about the strain on federal finances, given the United States was carrying a heavy debt load prior to the trillions in emergency coronavirus spending.
McHenry told the Washington Examiner he was not opposed to more spending in principle. But the congressman, who is aligned with House GOP leadership, emphasized that he wants to make sure any additional funds are invested wisely and targeted toward alleviating the most pressing problems the public is facing during an unprecedented health crisis.
McHenry said he does support Trump’s request for another $250 billion for the small-business lending program component of the CARES Act, known as the Paycheck Protection Program. The Small Business Administration has been overwhelmed with applicants seeking loans to keep them afloat during mandated closures intended to effect extreme social distancing and crush the coronavirus outbreak.
“Let’s see what works [and] doesn’t work. Let’s also see what the needs are, so we can go meet them,” McHenry said. “We have some ideas, but we don’t know the extent of it, and I’d rather us measure twice and cut once than try and keep throwing money out the door.”
On Thursday, an attempt by Senate Republicans to approve $250 billion in supplemental funds quickly for the small-business lending program was blocked by Democrats, who, along with their colleagues in the House, are proposing to pair the money with additional money for food stamps, hospitals, and the states.
