The coronavirus relief package is an "Irresponsible swamp bill" and President Donald Trump is right to reject it, but Democrats are wrong to expect to increase direct payments to individuals while not changing anything else in the legislation, Rep. Chip Roy said Wednesday.
"The president's right to call B.S. on this ridiculous bill," the Texas Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "Both parties are at fault."
Trump Tuesday called the relief package a "disgrace" because it only allows for $600 direct payments to Americans while the spending bill portion allows massive amounts of money for other countries.
"It is the merger of an omnibus bill that is bloated with typical wasteful spending, on top of a relief bill that has a whole lot of things in it that frankly aren't all that focused on relief," said Roy. While much of the focus on Trump's threat to reject the bill focuses on the demand for more stimulus check money, that's not the whole problem with it, said Roy.
"The American people don't just want another check," he said. "They want us to do our job like they have to do when they sit around their kitchen table and small businesses have to do when they are trying to make ends meet and America's leadership in Washington refuses to do what they have to do."
However, it would be "classic Democrat procedure" to want the increased direct payments, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others are now demanding, while leaving the other spending items standing.
Roy noted that about a week ago, he joined with House Freedom Caucus colleagues to send a letter to Trump suggesting he veto this "horrible legislation," as they knew where it was headed.
"With the American people there are two obvious facts," said Roy. "The American people want whatever dollars that are going to go out, they want it them to stay in America and go to Americans and help Americans."
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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