Second Stimulus: McConnell Accuses Pelosi, Schumer of Killing COVID Relief ‘Behind Closed Doors’

The Senate officially reconvened on Tuesday. On their first day back in session, the Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, unveiled their new, skinny stimulus proposal. While they plan to vote on the proposal on Thursday, the package has already been met with criticism from lawmakers, particularly Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. In light of their vocal criticisms, McConnell took to Twitter to write that the Republicans will not let the Speaker of the House or the Senate Minority Leader derail this plan.

On Twitter, McConnell wrote that they would not let Pelosi or Schumer “kill COVID relief behind closed doors.” He said that they would not let the lawmakers do this action without letting every senator speak on the record regarding this proposal. The Kentucky senator ended his message by writing that the Senate will vote on this proposal, which aims to keep children safe while in school and protect workers’ paychecks, on Thursday. It’s unclear if the GOP’s latest proposal will be able to garner enough support to pass. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have already criticized the package for a variety of issues, one of which being that it does not provide any stimulus checks for Americans who need relief amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Pelosi and Schumer have been open about their criticisms for the Republicans’ skinny stimulus proposal. On Twitter, Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, wrote that the bill does not include any funding for rental of nutrition assistance. He also noted that their package, which totals $500 billion, is much smaller in scale than what America needs at the moment. The New York senator ended his message by stressing that the Democrats will continue to work towards coming up with a viable stimulus package.

Schumer and Pelosi also released a joint statement in which they noted that the GOP’s bill does not go far enough in helping Americans amidst this unprecedented time in the nation’s history. “Senate Republicans appear dead-set on another bill which doesn’t come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere,” their statement read, per The Hill. “If anyone doubts McConnell’s true intent is anything but political, just look at the bill. This proposal is laden with poison pills Republicans know Democrats would never support.”