Stimulus Check: Nancy Pelosi Criticizes Mitch McConnell’s Lack of Action in Bringing HEROES Act to Senate

Last week’s failure by congressional lawmakers to strike a deal on another stimulus relief package has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revisiting the HEROES Act. Proposed and approved by the House of Representatives in May, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring what he dubbed a “$3 trillion left-wing wish list” to the Senate floor for a vote, something that Pelosi is now condemning amid the looming threat that millions of Americans will receive little to no aid amid the economic crisis.

Speaking with Joy Reid on MSNBC’s The ReidOut to discuss the latest developments from Capitol Hill, Pelosi took aim at McConnell and his Republican colleagues’ lack of action in addressing the pandemic. Noting that the House had passed the HEROES Act “three months ago” in an effort to “meet the needs of the American people,” Pelosi said McConnell “pushed the pause button.” She said what happened next not only cost livelihoods but tens of thousands of American lives, explaining how “during that pause, 3.5 million more people were added to the list of those infected and over 75,000 more people have died once they pushed the pause button.”

With a $3 trillion price tag, the HEROES Act not only sought to provide a second round of stimulus payments but also sought to provide $75 billion for coronavirus testing and contact tracing implementation. It also called to allow all Americans to receive free coronavirus treatment. More than just that, though, the bill wished to extend the $600 enhanced unemployment benefit until January 2021, protect Americans from eviction, and nutrition and food assistance programs.

Speaking on The ReidOut, Pelosi went on to slam the GOP proposal, stating that the HEALS Act was filled with “meager proposals” and failed to address the most critical challenges facing the struggling American people. She said, “we have children food insecure in our country. In our bill, we had $60 billion. In their bill, they had $250,000.” She also slammed the Republicans for not having “money for children who are food insecure but did have a tax deduction for business lunches that cost a half a billion dollars to give.”

Pelosi also criticized President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which he signed on Saturday after negotiation collapsed, stating that they “did even less to give an illusion so that the market would go up.”