House Democrats push aid bill toward passage
Some in party join GOP in opposing measure
WASHINGTON – Democrats hoped to push through the House a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package that was panned by Senate Republicans and declared “dead on arrival” by President Donald Trump.
The bill would steer billions to financially socked states and local governments and provide a second round of direct payments to millions of Americans. It also would expand unemployment assistance, boost food stamps and increase emergency grants to small businesses trying to weather the COVID-19 pandemic that has slammed the economy and upended daily life in the U.S.
But Democrats faced criticism in their own ranks as they moved toward a late Friday vote.
Some progressives were unhappy that some provisions, such as covering three months of payroll costs for businesses, were not included.
“I unfortunately will be voting ‘No’ on the bill,” said Washington state Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the Democratic behind the paycheck guarantee proposal. “We’re going to see mass unemployment numbers continue to rise.”
Some Democrats representing swing districts were wary of the bill’s big price tag and the politics of voting for such a massive package without GOP help.
Bills “without bipartisan support are a disservice to the American people, especially during a time of crisis,” said
Oklahoma Rep. Kendra Horn, a freshman Democrat representing a district that Trump dominated in 2016. Horn said she will vote against the package.
Another moderate Democrat, freshman Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, tweeted Friday that she opposed the bill because it “strays far beyond delivering relief or responding to an urgent crisis, & it has no chance at becoming law.”
At least one Republican House member, retiring Rep. Peter King of New York, planned to cross party lines to vote for the bill. The moderate Republican told Fox News that his hard-hit state will “absolutely collapse” without an infusion of federal aid.
“I can be as much a red state person as anyone,” King said. “But now we’re talking about survival. And this is no place for politics.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a last-minute entreaty to colleagues. “The plan that we are voting on today will make a tremendous difference not only in the budgets of the states but in the lives of the American people: their public health, the education of our children, the sanitation so important to defeating the virus, with the support of so many essential workers,” she said in a letter Friday morning.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., derided the House bill on Thursday as a “liberal wish list” during an interview with Fox News.
“I think we all believe that another bill probably is going to be necessary,” Mcconnell said. “But I’m not prepared today to put a precise date on when that will be.”