Sen. Lee: Republicans Worry COVID Money Will Be Biden 'Slush Fund'

Republicans are working hard to make sure the money funded through another round of coronavirus relief funding won't turn into a "gigantic slush fund" for the incoming Biden administration, and talks about the package could continue through the weekend, Sen. Mike Lee said Friday. 

"We are buckling down to be here all weekend and perhaps into early next week," the Utah Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends," adding that Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has done "fantastic work" on the plans so the funds aren't used in "whatever manner the Biden administration might want to use them for."

Meanwhile, the matter of state and local municipalities' funding had been sought by Democrats, and liability protection for small businesses was a focus by Republicans but both appear to be out of the pending legislation.

The local funding has been a "huge sticking point," said Lee, as Republicans are concerned that states that have been careful and prepared for emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic can end up being "effectively punished" compared to states that were not ready or didn't have "good systems in place."

"You don't necessarily want to reward those states, for example, that have chosen to just shut down everything reflexively if what that is going to mean is that they just get more money," the senator said.  "It's not terribly fair to states that are careful about what they shut down and what they don't."

Lee also defended his vote last week to block bipartisan approval of legislation to establish an American Women's History Museum and a National Museum of the American Latino as parts of the Smithsonian Institution, measures that had been backed by several prominent Republicans. 

"Right now, when Americans are divided and suffering as much as they are, the very last thing we want to do is further divide Americans," said Lee. "We have already got 19 Smithsonian museums. Some of them are visited frequently when we are not in a global pandemic. Others far less so." 

There are already Smithsonian museums dedicated to Native Americans and African Americans, reports CNN.

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