House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the Democrats’ requests for an expanded bill to address gaps in the initial $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package, as they derailed a $250 billion emergency bill for small business loans.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled a political “stunt” by moving ahead with his unanimous consent request Thursday morning without negotiating with Democrats.
She said there needed to be a conversation as Secretary Steven T. Munchin requested “a quarter of a trillion dollars in 48 hours. There’s no data.”
“What the secretary requested, and what the bills that the Senate majority leader brought to the floor would never pass the House by unanimous consent,” Mrs. Pelosi said on a conference call with reporters. “It is a basis for some negotiations, but it would never pass the House by unanimous consent.”
In addition to the $250 billion in small business loans, Democratic leadership wanted $125 billion for financial institutions that serve low-income communities, $100 billion more for health care institutions, $150 billion for state and local governments, and a 15% increase in food security benefits.
The amendment put forth by Sen. Chris Van Hollen Thursday morning — and subsequently blocked by Mr. McConnell — would have addressed some of the “kinks” that Democrats took issue with the paycheck protection program (PPP). Specifically, Democrats wanted to include guardrails to ensure vulnerable and diverse populations had access to the funds.
“We have made our statement,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “There is a disparity in access to capital in our country. We do not want this tragedy of the coronavirus to exacerbate that disparity, or to solidify it.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the Democrats’ move on Thursday was “disgusting” and putting politics ahead of the public good.
While the California Republican did not have any specific objections to the Democrats’ requests, Mr. McCarthy said the focus of Thursday’s emergency bill should have remained solely on the small business loans given that is expected to run out of money in a week.
Both Mr. McCarthy and Mr. McConnell said they were open to negotiating on Democrats’ demands in a subsequent bill.
“My colleagues must not treat working Americans as political hostages,” Mr. McConnell said. “To my Democratic colleagues, please, please do not block emergency aid you do not even oppose, just because you want something more. Nobody believes this is the Senate’s last word on COVID-19. We do not have to everything right now. We cannot play games with this crisis.”
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Mrs. Pelosi pushed back on the Republicans’ calls for urgency, arguing the PPP program is not in dire straights yet.
“They still have two-thirds left,” she said about the original $350 billion.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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