Two Senate Republicans sparred over a proposed bill on Friday that would send a new round of economic stimulus to people struggling financially amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Ron Johnson objected to a motion from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who has teamed up with independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to get the direct assistance added to the next coronavirus relief package, to pass a bill through unanimous consent that would provide stimulus checks of $1,200, as opposed to the $600 amount that is currently being negotiated by congressional leaders.
On the Senate floor Friday, Johnson said that although there is “no doubt” many people are struggling through the coronavirus pandemic, the proposed legislation would balloon the national debt to unprecedented levels without proper spending oversight.
“We have families in need,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “There’s no doubt about it. I completely support some kind of program targeted for small businesses, so they can reemploy, so they can reopen, to restore capital. What I fear we’re going to do with this bipartisan package, and what the senator from Missouri is talking about is the same thing — a shotgun approach.”
Hawley rejected the suggestion that the economic relief was insufficiently targeted, arguing that there is no relief “more important than relief for working people.”
But Johnson warned of the consequences of such a pricey endeavor.
“We will not have learned the lessons from our very hurried, very rushed, very massive, earlier relief packages,” Johnson said. “We’re just going to do more of the same, another trillion dollars. It takes our debt from $27.4 trillion to $28.4 trillion in a couple months. With doing virtually no revisions, no improvements.”
Hawley conceded that Jonson was “right” about the added debt but noted the unprecedented season of spending required to assist people struggling through the coronavirus pandemic.
“This body has spent trillions of dollars this year alone on COVID relief,” Hawley said. “We’re getting ready to spend apparently another $1 trillion more. And yet, working people are told, they may be last — if they get relief at all.”
