While not ruling out further aid through the raging pandemic, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and three other GOP senators are holding off on a fifth coronavirus relief bill.
"I think I can speak for our conference by saying we're not ruling that out but we think we ought to take a pause here, do a good job of evaluating what we've already done," McConnell told reporters Tuesday.
"The Senate Republican majority and the president of the United States are not irrelevant to the process, so we're going to keep talking to each other and decide to act when and if it's appropriate to act again," he added.
The House two weeks ago passed a $484 billion relief package to rescue small businesses, expand testing and help hospitals. The legislation will deliver a $310 billion infusion to the Paycheck Protection Program, a forgivable loan program that ran out of money after just 13 days following passage of a third relief package.
Nonetheless, senators returned to the Capitol Monday morning with a focus on nominations, not coronavirus-related issues.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told the Hill he did not foresee passage of additional coronavirus-related legislation, at least for the time being.
"I think we need to think about whether or not what we continue to believe was the right thing to do in March, is still going to be the right thing for us to be doing in June."
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters “we’re weeks away from that,” and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., suggested putting a pause on COVID-19 bills “for a while” to see what has worked, “what hasn’t worked and let’s see how much money – additional money we need after the economy is opened back up.”
Meanwhile, the House is proceeding on a different tack.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressed ahead Tuesday with the next coronavirus aid, a sweeping package that is expected to be unveiled soon even as the House stays closed while the Senate has reopened in spite of the pandemic and the many lockdown situations nationwide.
Key to any plan to reopen the economy, Democrats say, is robust testing. They are also expected to propose another round of direct cash aid for anxious Americans, funds for states to prevent layoffs and more money to shore up businesses in the stay-home economy. Pelosi had indicated more than $800 billion could be needed, but her office declined to confirm a final figure Tuesday.
“We still don’t have a national testing strategy that is adequate,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. “It’s life and death.”
By reconvening, Senate Republicans are trying to set the terms of debate, frustrated that Pelosi was able to fill up earlier aid bills with Democratic priorities. They’re reluctant to unleash federal funds beyond the nearly $3 trillion Congress already approved in virus relief and hope Trump's push to re-open will reduce the need for more aid.
“I just don’t think we need to act as quite urgently as we did last time,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas told reporters at the Capitol.
The No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said Washington had already “flooded the zone” with virus relief and should assess “what’s working and what’s not.”
With Democrats eyeing a new aid package, Pelosi has also outlined governors' requests for $500 billion, with the counties and cities seeking as much as $300 billion, which she has said could be spread out over the next several years.
The White House, however, is also hitting pause on new aid.
White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland said before the administration commits to new spending, “the president and his team would like to assess how successful we’ve been as these resources have gone out the door.”
And so for the moment, the Senate business is dominated by consideration of Trump's nominees, including a hearing Tuesday on John Ratcliffe, the Texas Republican congressman who is Trump’s choice to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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