Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate must return to session before cautiously weighing the impact of a new spending bill and will not “waive through” another massive measure that will add to the nation’s debt.
Democrats, meanwhile, are planning a “big broad” spending measure to follow the four funding bills that the Senate has passed already to respond to the coronavirus, including a $484 billion measure approved by voice vote Tuesday.
“If anyone thinks this is the last train out of the station, that is not even close to the case,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.
Congress has passed nearly $3 trillion in emergency coronavirus aid, all of it added to the debt.
McConnell said lawmakers need to see how the spending currently allocated impacts the economy and that states need to begin planning to reopen the economy.
And he said lawmakers need to be present in the Senate before another massive bill is considered. The chamber is not scheduled to be back in session until May 4.
“My view is we ought to bring everybody back to have full participation, begin thinking about the implications to the country’s future for this level of national debt, begin to see some evidence of the economy beginning to get back to normal … and take measured steps,” McConnell said.
But Democrats are planning another massive spending bill they say will be “along the lines” of the $2.2 trillion measure President Trump signed into law on March 28.
Democrats want to eliminate $25 billion in postal service debt and provide $25,000 in hazard pay bonuses for people working in grocery stores, medical facilities, and other front-line jobs during the coronavirus.
They also propose providing money to allow people to skip paying rent for three months.
“On some of these issues, we do have Republican support, on others we may not now, but we will get it,” Schumer said.
Republicans are losing enthusiasm for the massive bailout measures and are instead calling on local governments to develop plans to begin to reopen the economy safely as the coronavirus infection curve flattens.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has recovered from the coronavirus, said he objected to the bill on Tuesday and argued Congress is racking up massive debt that will burden future generations.
“No amount of money, not all the money in China, will save us from ourselves,” Paul argued on the Senate floor prior to a voice-vote passage of the $484 billion measure. “Our only hope of rescuing this great country is to reopen the economy.”
McConnell said lawmakers should wait to see “what needs less, what needs more,” before crafting yet another spending bill. “Let’s weigh this very carefully because the future of our country, in terms of the amount of debt that we are adding up, is a matter of genuine concern.”
Democrats said their priority in a new economic relief bill will be to secure money to help further bail out local and state governments who have lost massive revenue from stay-at-home orders and business closures. The money was excluded from the deal the Senate passed Tuesday. Democrats said the money is needed to help critical government employees, such as firefighters and police.
Trump signaled in a tweet he’ll consider local and state funding in the next spending bill, along with “much needed Infrastructure Investments for Bridges, Tunnels, Broadband, Tax Incentives for Restaurants, Entertainment, Sports, and Payroll Tax Cuts to increase Economic Growth.”
