Second Stimulus: Pelosi Slams McConnell for Blocking HEROES Act in Senate

As social media continues to buzz about her recent visit to a San Francisco salon, House Speaker [...]

By Allison Schonter

As social media continues to buzz about her recent visit to a San Francisco salon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reminding the American people that it has been more than 100 days since the HEROES Act was approved by the House of Representatives. Amid the stalled negotiations regarding an additional stimulus relief package, Pelosi is condemning Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for what she and many other Democrats believe to be a failure of his job is not bringing refusing to bring the proposal to a vote.

The HEROES Act was introduced by Pelosi in May as a means to bring further relief to the American people. With a price tag of more than $3 trillion, $1 trillion more than the CARES Act, the legislation proposed $75 billion for coronavirus testing and contact tracing implementation, free coronavirus treatment, an extension of the $600 enhanced unemployment benefit, which expired on July 31, eviction protection, funding for nutrition and food assistance programs, and the second round of stimulus checks, among several other provisions.

The bill had received widespread support from Democrats and was brought up for a vote in the House on May 15. Prior to the vote, Pelosi, speaking from the floor, said "Congress must honor its responsibility to the American people to lessen the blow of the coronavirus by making the same serious investment of The Heroes Act to our state, local, tribal and territorial governments." She said the bill would "make a tremendous difference not only in the budgets in the states but in the lives of the American people." She called on members to "come together and give them a real signal that we care by allocating the resources to meet their needs."

While the HEROES Act ultimately passed the House in a vote of 208-199, it never made it any further than that. Dubbed a "$3 trillion left-wing wish list" by McConnell, it never saw the light of day in the Senate. Many Republicans believed that the price tag was simply far too high, resulting in the GOP instead moving to introduce their own proposal, the HEALS Act.

As the HEROES Act continues to gather dust on McConnell's desk, the HEALS Act not faring much better in Congress, next to no progress is being made in bringing further relief to the American people. Weeks after discussions between Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows collapsed, a bridge has failed to be made in their differing viewpoints. In fact, all attempts to renew negotiations have failed, with both sides mostly resorting to pointing fingers on social media.

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