House Democrats have been holding out for blue state bailouts, but House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., suggested Sunday he would back a COVID-19 relief bill without them.
"I mean, I think we need to get an agreement, and we need to get this bill passed," Hoyer told CNN's "Inside Politics" podcast.
The stalemate in Congress has been Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's steadfast opposition to payouts to states.
"If we can get [state and local assistance], we want to get it, but we want to get aid out to the people who are really, really struggling and are at great risk," Hoyer added to host Abby Phillip.
McConnell, R-Ky., said he might be willing to drop demands for liability protections for business amid the global coronavirus pandemic if Democrats take out state and local funding.
Hoyer supports the compromise as long as vaccines, unemployment assistance, and small business loans funding is included.
"We need to get the essential done and we'll have time to get stuff done that we didn't include because we couldn't get political agreement," Hoyer said. "We'll have time to do that. We have a new president. We have a new Congress. We're not going to leave anybody behind.
Ultimately, McConnell might need to just allow the upper chamber to bring a relief bill to a vote, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said this week, per The Hill.
"We're stuck in the same place we were four months ago," Kennedy said. "[McConnell] ought to just turn to the members of the Senate and say, 'Look, we can stay here forever and not reach an agreement. It's time to vote. Have at it, dog. If you want to vote against it, vote against.'"
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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