Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "must be living on Fantasy Island" if she thinks her $3 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill will become law, Sen. John Barrasso said Wednesday.
"It's bloated and partisan, and it's a payout to her liberal constituencies," the Wyoming Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "She said this is focused on coronavirus. This has direct payments to illegal immigrants but yet includes absolutely not a dime for the Paycheck Protection Program which has been so successful."
The massive 1,800-page bill includes help for state and local governments, hazard pay for frontline healthcare workers, the forgiveness of student debt, and more money to bolster Medicaid and Medicare. The proposed legislation, which comes up for a vote on Friday, is known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or HEROES Act.
In addition, Pelosi wants to help release prisoners being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities but provides no liability protection for businesses that are afraid of being slapped with coronavirus-related lawsuits once they reopen, said Barrasso.
Meanwhile, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is introducing a bill to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide $10,000 each to cover burial costs for COVID-19 victims. Barrasso said that push also shows more division among Democrats.
"No matter how much Nancy Pelosi has put into this bill, there are still Democrats on the far, far left side of her party that want to put more into the bill," said Barrasso.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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