House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended her plan to spend $3 trillion in her latest coronavirus economic relief legislation.
On Tuesday, Pelosi announced the legislation put forward by House Democrats that would provide funding for states facing revenue shortfalls, bail out the U.S. Postal Service, and provide hazard pay to healthcare workers, among several other Democratic-backed initiatives. In total, the HEROES Act costs an estimated $3 trillion.
While Senate Republicans have already signaled their opposition to the legislation, Pelosi defended the plan, telling Morning Joe that each policy is needed to help the United States respond to the pandemic and its effects on the economy.
“We put down what we think this country needs, and this is not any wish list that is not related to the coronavirus and to this time frame. We made that … a criterion for consideration. This is all about the here and now. It isn’t about politics. It’s about humanity,” the California Democrat said.
“When the Republicans say, ‘Oh, we need to pause’ — well, are they going to pause the hunger, the evictions? Are they going to pause the, the out-of-work anger and pain that people are feeling? This isn’t time for a pause. This is a time for us to … really have a strategic plan to … test, trace, treat, and isolate,” she added.
While Pelosi maintained that each part of the legislation was connected to the pandemic, Republicans disagreed. In a post to the Senate Republican Twitter account, Republicans highlighted many of the policies they did not believe were tied to the pandemic.
They highlighted $50 million in “economic justice grants,” $20 million to the Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, and the mandate for a review of all illegal immigrants currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to consider a potential release as policies that are not directly tied to the coronavirus.
Pelosi reiterated that she did not view any portions of the bill as partisan.
“This isn’t partisanship. This is science. This is humanity. This is about the family of America caring for each other. Sensitive to everyone’s concerns but also determined to get rid of this very resourceful virus [that] is taking, as you have shown this morning, some ugly, even uglier … turns,” she said. “It’s a big ticket. It’s a lot of money. The American people are worth it.”
