Senate Republicans gathered for the first time in six weeks in the U.S. Capitol and agreed none of them are eager to rush ahead with another massive spending bill that responds to the coronavirus outbreak.
Instead, Republicans said they plan to focus on efforts to treat and prevent the coronavirus and reopen the economy with “a narrowly crafted” bill to limit liability lawsuits against healthcare workers and small businesses.
No coronavirus-related legislation is expected on the schedule this week or next week, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and member of the GOP leadership team, told the Washington Examiner.
“We will continue to discuss with the administration the way forward,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after meeting with GOP rank and file Tuesday afternoon. “I know many people are asking for additional legislation. We are not ruling that out, but we think we ought to take a pause here and do a good job evaluating what we’ve already done.”
The Kentucky Republican said GOP lawmakers have little appetite for a massive spending bill Democrats are crafting.
“I don’t think there is any particular sentiment among Senate Republicans for a vast new rescue package going forward,” McConnell said.
The next legislative steps Senate Republicans are planning places them directly at odds with Senate Democrats and the Democratic-majority House.
Democrats are planning another massive spending bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi estimated would cost approximately $1 trillion or more. The measure would include $500 billion to bail out state budgets and even more for local and municipal governments. Democrats will also seek “hazard pay” for workers, a bailout of U.S. Postal Service debt, extended unemployment insurance, and more.
Senate Republicans said they expect Pelosi, a California Democrat, to push a big spending bill through the House that will result in negotiations between the two parties.
But there is very little agreement between the two parties that might yield a compromise bill.
Senate Republicans said they are eager to pass lawsuit liability reform for healthcare workers and businesses in order to facilitate the reopening of the economy.
Democrats want more protection for workers and say liability reform will create health risks.
McConnell said nothing related to the coronavirus can pass the Senate without lawsuit liability reform, telling reporters that nearly 800 coronavirus-related lawsuits have already been filed.
“I think I can safely say for our team here, the majority, if there is any red line, it is on litigation,” McConnell said. “The litigation epidemic has already begun. This is going to impact our ability to begin to get back to work.”
McConnell said Republican lawmakers are at work on “narrowly crafted liability protection to target healthcare workers and others who have been on the front lines here.”
The measure would not prevent lawsuits for gross negligence, McConnell said.
McConnell said he’s not ruling out more money for states and local governments suffering from depleted budgets due to the coronavirus shutdowns. Republicans are monitoring the spending programs already signed into law providing billions of dollars to businesses, state governments, and healthcare facilities. They are considering changes that would provide more flexibility in how the money is spent, he said, but have no immediate plans to provide more money.
“I’m not going to make any prediction about what we might do next,” McConnell said. “We are taking a measured response first to see what we’ve already done, and then, we’ll see whether we need to do a lot more.”
