Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., says Democrats will have egg on their face for holding out on a COVID-19 relief bill over a GOP request for a liability waiver for lawsuits related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been seeking this liability protection since April, warning of an “avalanche” of lawsuits against businesses. But the Kentucky lawmaker late Tuesday said Democrats and Republicans negotiating the bill should set aside the two most partisan demands and reach a deal on the remaining elements.
Braun said trial lawyers have Democrats in their back pockets.
“They don’t want to give up the possibility to take any entity to court if it interacts with COVID and it might harm the individual in the process,” he said Tuesday during an appearance on Newsmax TV’s “Spicer & Co.”
“No one agrees with that other than trial lawyers. That’s how beholden the other side of the aisle is to them. State and local government aid is the other sticking point.”
Republicans have rejected Democrats’ demands for $150 billion in funding for local and state governments. But McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have said they hope to include coronavirus relief in a year-end spending bill.
Braun says he thinks it will happen.
“The egg will be on the face of them for holding it out for that reason and you’re going to hear a lot about it over the next few days,” Braun added. “I think that will force us into Thursday and/or Friday, getting something across the finish line.”
Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, CenturyLink 1209, Mediacom Ch. 277, Frontier 615 or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.
© 2021 Newsmax. All rights reserved.