On Tuesday, House Democrats revealed an expansive $3 trillion coronavirus bill that would offer aid to state and local governments, health systems, and other provisions including another round of stimulus payments to individuals and hazard pay for essential workers.
However, Senate Republicans were less than enthused about the sweeping legislation, which the House could vote on as soon as Friday, flat-out rejecting it, without evening seeing it, the Hill reports.
“What you’ve seen in the House [from Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi] is not something designed to deal with reality, but designed to deal with aspirations. This is not a time for aspirational legislation, this is a time for practical response to the coronavirus pandemic,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky. told reporters.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) claimed that the legislation was “dead on arrival.”
According to the Washington Post, the coronavirus bill was put together by Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats without input from Republicans or the White House.
“We must think big for the people now, because if we don’t it will cost more in lives and livelihood later,” Pelosi said at a press conference. “Not acting is the most expensive course.”
The bill would allocate some $1 trillion to state, local, territorial and tribal governments, and also create a $200 billion “Heroes Fund” to allocate hazard pay to essential workers.
It will also provide for a more robust stimulus payment to Americans, ranging up to $6,000 per household, according to the Post.
The bill also seeks to provide $25 billion for the United States Postal Service, whose funding Trump had threatened just last month amid one of his many attacks against the agency.
This coronavirus relief bill, which would be the fifth coming out of Congress comes at a time when the two parties are even more at odds with one another after the first four bills came through bipartisan compromise, that was at times, tense.