Stimulus Checks: Both Sides Pressuring Mitch McConnell to Call Congress Back to Resume Talks

Over the past several weeks, Congress has been trying to agree on the next stimulus package without success. During these failing negotiations, Senate is on recess and isn’t expected to reconvene until September. As a result, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call Congress back to resume stimulus negotiations.

As Newsweek reported, many lawmakers have criticized McConnell for allowing senators to go on holiday until September as many Americans are currently struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic. They have also raised their concerns over the United States Postal Service’s ability to handle the millions of mail-in ballots that will be sent in during the presidential election. Their concerns come amidst reports that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump, has been leveling cutbacks on sorting machines and overtime. In response to the Senate’s recess, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts took to social media to call on McConnell to reconvene Congress so that they can agree on another stimulus package. Warren reportedly wrote, “Bring the Senate back now to protect the USPS [Mitch McConnell]. And while we’re at it, let’s finally pass another COVID relief bill to help struggling families.”

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan also urged McConnell to call back the Senate so that they can form some kind of stimulus plan amidst the ongoing health crisis. Peters shared, “Leader McConnell should call the Senate back into session this week so we can work in a bipartisan manner to pass urgently needed COVID relief and postal legislation. This is about the well-being and livelihood of Michiganders.” Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, agreed with her Democratic counterparts on this issue, as she also took to social media to address McConnell. She wrote, “The Senate should return this week to consider a COVID-19 package that includes the Postal Service Emergency Assistance Act—a bill I introduced [with Sen. Dianne Feinstein] in July—which would provide USPS [with] up to $25 billion to cover losses or operational expenses resulting from COVID-19.”

While McConnell has not shared whether he will call Congress back in session before September, he did take time to criticize the Democrats for not being able to compromise on another stimulus package. On Twitter, he wrote on Thursday that the Democrats had moved away from the $3 trillion-plus price tag for the next stimulus package to one that would total around $2 trillion. He wrote, “That’s not a reality-based negotiation. It’s throwing spaghetti at the wall.”