House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's $3 trillion HEROES Act is nothing more than politically motivated "garbage" that is is a cynical play that claims to help Americans but instead serves to fill a "left wing agenda," Sen. Bill Cassidy said Wednesday.
"Clearly she went to her committee chairs and she said, 'Give me that which you think maybe we can get in here — a starting point for negotiations so we’ll look reasonable when we retreat from it,'" the Louisiana Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "On the other hand, it is socking it to the American people, cynically saying we’re here to help you but rather instead trying to fulfill a left wing agenda."
Cassidy acknowledged that aid will still be needed in response to the pandemic, but that lawmakers shouldn't "mash it together with the wish list."
"That discredits the true need as people are attempting to sneak in an agenda cynically saying, 'This is about need,' but really it's about an agenda," Cassidy said. "We need to stick with the need."
The plan includes billions of dollars for nationwide COVID-19 testing, unemployment, metropolitan cities, schools, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Postal Service, as well as allowing payment eligibility for some undocumented immigrants.
The USPS had recently announced that unless it gets money from the government, it may not make it past September. It recently asked Congress for $89 billion.
The money is being sought, in part, for "an unfunded accrued liability in their pension fund and other things," said Cassidy, adding that structural reform is needed for the postal service.
"My fear is that if you just give them the $25 billion without pushing for the reform, you know five years from now we’re going to have a similar problem," Cassidy said.
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.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.