Senate Republicans plan to introduce a new coronavirus aid package Tuesday that would provide funding for healthcare and education and would boost the economy, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced.
The Kentucky Republican said the Senate will vote on the measure as soon as this week, which would be ahead of the Democratic-led House’s return next week.
“Today, the Senate Republican majority is introducing a new targeted proposal focused on some of the very most urgent healthcare, education, and economic issues,” McConnell said. “It does not contain every idea our party likes. I am confident Democrats will feel the same. Yet Republicans believe the many serious differences between our two parties should not stand in the way of agreeing where we can agree and making law that helps our nation.”
The two parties have been battling for weeks over the next round of federal coronavirus aid. The House held an emergency session in August to pass a bill providing funding to the Postal Service and blocking it from implementing service changes during the pandemic.
McConnell’s narrower proposal reflects the deep reluctance among many in his GOP conference to pass another massive aid package. Congress has passed nearly $3 trillion in federal aid this year in response to the coronavirus, and much of it has not been spent yet.
Democrats are proposing a larger coronavirus aid bill worth $3.7 trillion and have demanded at least $2.2 trillion in a deal with the GOP. Republicans in July proposed a $1 trillion aid package. The two parties haven’t been able to reach a compromise despite hours of talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and President Trump’s negotiators, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Trump earlier this summer unilaterally extended federal unemployment benefits by $300 per week after a previous payment of $600 per week expired.
“Everything Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer have done suggests one simple motivation: They do not want American families to see any more bipartisan aid before the polls close on President Trump’s re-election,” McConnell said. “They have taken Americans’ health, jobs, and schools hostage for perceived partisan gain.”
Democrats have said the GOP is not taking the outbreak seriously and is not proposing enough bailout money, particularly to the states hit hard by reduced tax revenue. Democrats have also quadrupled their initial $100 billion funding request for schools and universities to reopen safely.
