Senate Republicans rejected a call from President Trump on Wednesday to agree to a more costly coronavirus aid package that aligns with a Democratic proposal.
Trump tweeted Democrats are “heartless” and are refusing to cut a deal with Republicans that would provide a new round of direct payments to individuals and families.
But he appeared to suggest the GOP should give in to Democratic demands that the package spend at least $2.2 trillion, a number Republicans have declared is far too costly.
Trump tweeted, “Go for the much higher numbers, Republicans, it all comes back to the USA anyway (one way or another!).”
While some Republicans told the Washington Examiner they are willing to spend more money, including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Roy Blunt, many rejected Trump’s tweet, arguing the Senate GOP unified around a measure that would have cost less than $500 billion.
“I think we’ve authorized enough,” Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, told reporters in the Capitol. “Let’s figure out, ‘How do we spend it?'”
Senate Republicans voted nearly unanimously to approve the narrow coronavirus aid package last week, garnering 52 of the 53 lawmakers in their conference. The measure reduced by more than half a $1 trillion GOP proposal called the HEALS Act, which was introduced in July and rejected by many Republican senators as far too expensive.
“I think if you go much above that, even to $1 trillion that was out there in our HEALS Act, you’d have a lot of people leaving the scene in terms of voting,” Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, said, characterizing the GOP position on more spending.
Trump is eager to strike a deal with Democrats on a new round of coronavirus aid, but Democratic leaders have refused to budge from a minimum $2.2 trillion package.
In a rare move, Democratic leaders praised Trump’s tweet but only to put pressure on the Senate, which is controlled by the GOP.
“We are encouraged that after months of the Senate Republicans insisting on shortchanging the massive needs of the American people, President Trump is now calling on Republicans to ‘go for the much higher numbers’ in the next coronavirus relief package,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.
The two parties have been gridlocked for weeks on a new round of federal aid, with much of the disagreement centered on whether to give another round of money to the states to make up for tax revenue lost during the coronavirus shutdowns.
Democrats in their package are seeking $1 trillion in federal aid to state, local, and tribal governments, but Republicans almost uniformly reject that spending provision. Republicans say the money would be used to bail out mismanaged state pension funds and that states have yet to spend all of the hundreds of billions of dollars provided in a prior round of federal coronavirus aid.
The Senate GOP’s narrow bill included no new funding for state, local, or tribal governments, and Republicans say it was the only way to garner party support.
“The bailout money for states and local is a problem in our conference,” Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, told the Washington Examiner. “A big, big problem.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, was in no mood to appease Democrats, who he suggested are withholding on a deal for political reasons ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Alexander said the two parties should pass legislation on the spending provisions they agree on, which include funding for schools, child care, testing, and vaccines.
“Why don’t we pass a bill?” Alexander said. “The fear is, Democrats take this to their advantage if we don’t have a deal. That’s a very cynical attitude.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday praised a bipartisan House proposal released yesterday that would provide approximately $1.7 trillion in aid, including $500 billion for state and local governments.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and member of the leadership, said the White House should consider the House bipartisan plan as “a tactic” to get Democrats to move off the $2.2 trillion package.
“Hopefully, it will persuade Speaker Pelosi to move off a dime,” Cornyn said, adding that he has not read the proposal and doesn’t necessarily support it.
Hawley rejected the bipartisan proposal, which he said was far too expensive.
“That’s not going anywhere in this conference,” Hawley said.
Hawley said the view of most in the GOP conference is to determine the spending priorities and then figure out how much money to spend.
Hawley said Republicans want an accounting of where the nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus funding already signed into law has been spent before agreeing to another major spending bill.
“That has been a very strongly held view of a very significant portion of the conference,” Hawley said.
