Only moments ago, every Senate Democrat voted to block critical funding intended for Americans faced with the fallout from the coronavirus. It’s almost like Democrats don’t care about the crisis America is facing. It’s almost like they’re willing to roll the dice to see if their actions can hurt Trump’s chances of re-election.
The economic relief package was worth more than $2 trillion.
The Washington Examiner – Lawmakers and the Trump administration hoped to send a positive message to unstable stock markets and to Americans worried about the decimated economy and the job losses caused by the spread of the virus.
The measure includes sending direct cash payments that would average about $3,000 per family and expanding unemployment insurance, as well as $350 billion in aid to struggling small businesses. It also provides $500 billion in loans to industries hurt by the economic slowdown.
But Democrats are holding out for big changes to the bill, which they argue creates a “slush fund” for big industries and lacks sufficient protections for workers. They voted against a procedural bill to start debate on the bill, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hoped to pass by Monday.
47-47: Senate fails to advance Phase 3 COVID-19 economic stimulus bill process. 60 votes were needed. All Democrats voted No. McConnell switched his vote to No allowing for 2nd vote. 5Rs Gardner-CO, Lee-UT, Paul-KY, Romney-UT & Scott-FL are in self-quarantine & missed the vote. pic.twitter.com/NRVzlwTyAt
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) March 22, 2020
According to Pergram, McConnell is accusing Democrats of playing games with coronavirus funding, calling it utterly absurd.
McConnell tears into Democrats on the floor. Specifically calls out Pelosi. Rare to see that on the floor, As angry as we’ve ever seen him on the floor.
McConnell:
The notion that we have time to play games here..is utterly absurd— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 22, 2020
Pergram tweeted again, quoting McConnell after the vote:
We’ll have this cloture vote again at some point ..and hopefully, some adults will show up on the other side of the room and understand the gravity of the situation before the markets go down further…we’ve never been confronted by anything like this before.
According to Pergram, McConnell put Pelosi in her place, saying: McConnell lights up Pelosi on the flr over coronavirus talks: She’s the Speaker of the House. Not the Speaker of the Senate. We don’t have one…the markets are already reacting to this outrageous nonsense. We have an obligation to deal with this..
