Mitch McConnell Announces Senate to Vote on Another Stimulus Relief Bill and Americans Sound Off

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Tuesday announcement that the Senate will vote on a new [...]

By Allison Schonter

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Tuesday announcement that the Senate will vote on a new stimulus relief bill amid ongoing negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has prompted plenty of reactions from Americans on social media. This vote will come amid the push to pass legislation before the November election, something that has seemed more and more unlikely to happen in recent weeks.

In a tweet announcing the intended vote, McConnell criticized Pelosi, stating that Senate Republicans "don't agree" with her statement "that 'nothing' is better than 'something'" for American workers, millions of whom have faced unemployment amid the pandemic. He went on to reveal that members of the Senate would take a vote on a new proposal sometime next week. Although he did not reveal many details, he explained that this bill would include more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.

McConnell's tweet was immediately met with a slew of reactions, both good and bad. While some Americans applauded the senator for taking further actions, others pointed out that he is the reason the HEROS Act, approved by the House in May, has not been brought to a vote in the Senate. Others criticized the new proposal, with many more demanding that any bill that is considered on Capitol Hill needs to include a second round of stimulus payments. Stimulus checks, first approved under the CARES Act, have gained bipartisan support.

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According to McConnell, the new proposal will be taken up for a vote upon the Senate's return to Capitol Hill on Monday, Oct. 19. The majority leader had adjourned the chamber after President Donald Trump and three GOP senators tested positive for the coronavirus. McConnell, in his statement, said a new stimulus relief bill vote "on targeted relief for American workers" would be the Senate's "first order of business."

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Among the key provisions included in this targeted relief, according to McConnell, is further funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). McConnell called the program "a popular program that has saved tens of millions of American jobs" and said that funding for the program is "job-saving." Taking a dig at his Democratic counterparts, including Pelosi, he added, the program has since "become yet another casualty of Democrats' all-or-nothing obstruction."

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According to CNBC, along with funding for the PPP, this new legislation will also include money for schools, an unemployment insurance boost, and liability protections for businesses, the latter of which McConnell has pushed for and has claimed is necessary. Democrats, meanwhile, have criticized the provision. McConnell revealed these details of the bill while speaking at an event in his home state of Kentucky. He did not, however, reveal if an additional round of stimulus checks would be included. A previously introduced slim bill did not include another round of direct payments.

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In his Tuesday statement, McConnell also pointed attention to a previously-introduced stimulus bill, which was ultimately blocked by Democrats, something that he criticized.

"Last month, 52 Senate Republicans voted to pass hundreds of billions more dollars for priorities like testing, healthcare, safe schools, unemployment benefits, and economic support… Republicans had the votes to pass all this relief. But Senate Democrats chose to filibuster it dead," he said. "...The American people need Democrats to stop blocking bipartisan funding and let us replenish the PPP before more Americans lose their jobs needlessly."

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The announcement that the Senate will vote on a targeted relief plan sometime next week came just days after the president, in a tweet, announced that he had "instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election." He said that he had instead instructed McConnell to "focus full time on approving my outstanding nominee to the United States Supreme Court." The president has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September.

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According to McConnell, the Senate will "have time" to vote and pass a stimulus relief package "before we proceed as planned to the pending Supreme Court nomination as soon as it is reported by the Judiciary Committee." This week began the four-day-long confirmation hearings Barrett. During the first three days, Barrett has been grilled with questions from those on both sides of the aisle.

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Currently, it remains unclear if a stimulus relief bill will manage to be approved by Election Day, which is Nov. 3. Although relief talks between Mnuchin and Pelosi have resumed, and both have indicated that there has been some forward progress, Mnuchin, speaking at a conference Wednesday, cast doubt an agreement will be reached by Election Day, stating, "I'd say at this point getting something done before the election and executing on that would be difficult." The two are set to meet again Thursday in a final push to strike a deal.

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