DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss issued the following statement on reports that 1.1 million Americans filed for unemployment assistance while Republicans focused on filling the Supreme Court vacancy instead of passing an additional coronavirus relief package:
“Another week of coronavirus cases rising and continued high jobless claims, but Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are more focused on ramming through a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court who will tear down the Affordable Care Act than passing an urgently needed coronavirus relief package. While Republicans in Washington choose to downplay this pandemic and refuse to engage in bipartisan negotiations, millions of Americans across the country are still struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. The GOP’s decision to ignore this crisis and turn their backs on hardworking families for the past six months is wrong, and voters will make their voices heard at the ballot box.”
Since emergency unemployment aid expired three months ago, Senate Republicans have refused to negotiate on a serious relief effort that can pass Congress and help Americans. They took a month-long vacation, turned their backs on the millions of Americans who desperately need help, and pushed stunt bills that were nothing more than political cover for their vulnerable incumbents. And as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell heads off a bipartisan stimulus deal for fear that it would “disrupt the Senate’s plans to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court next week,” not a single Republican in the Senate has stood up to McConnell. Instead, Republicans held another stunt vote this week on an insufficient bill that shortchanges workers, schools, and state and local governments, and had no chance of passing.
Recent polls show that a clear majority of voters “want the Senate to focus on approving coronavirus relief rather than filling the Supreme Court vacancy.” Americans across the country are on the edge of a “financial precipice” as they’re left to deal with the worst economic crisis in more than a generation without Washington’s help, but Mitch McConnell and his caucus are too busy jamming through a Supreme Court nominee. Because of Senate Republicans’ continued inaction, “tens of millions of Americans are dealing with uncertain futures.”
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