Republican Senators Want “More Credit” For Coronavirus Aid They Repeatedly Blocked

NRSC Executive Director Caught On Private Call Saying Republicans Have A “Problem” That Their Numbers “Not As Great As They Are for Governors”

The NRSC Executive Director was caught on a private call complaining that Senate Republicans deserve “more credit” for their response to the pandemic and that it’s a “problem” their numbers are “not as great as they are for governors.” The latest embarrassing leak is another sign of GOP panic over the “far grimmer” political landscape and also reveals a serious disconnect from the reality: Republicans tried to force through a corporate bailout that left out aid for hospitals and health care workers, and are now blocking relief for state and local governments. 

Here’s what Senate Republicans want “more credit” for:

• Trying to force through a $500 billion “slush fund” giveaway to giant corporations that shortchanged workers and hospitals, and lacked rules to prevent corporations from abusing federal aid by buying back stocks, raising CEO pay, or firing their employees. 

• “Bragging about an unemployment boost they voted against” by touting the additional $600 per week in unemployment insurance for workers that Democrats secured after Republicans pushed to cap these benefits.

• Blocking a Democratic proposal to provide $150 billion more for state and local government and tribal relief as states are “scrambling to head off unprecedented fiscal calamity” and “mass layoffs” of state and local government workers sweep the country.

• Resisting an additional $75 billion for hospitals and health care workers and $25 billion for testing needed to safely reopen the economy in the most recent coronavirus aid package that Democrats fought to secure.

• Working “hand in glove with the Trump administration” on the coronavirus response – which voters do not approve of. 

“Republicans know they’ve got a problem and it’s not the insufficient credit — it’s the positions their incumbents have taken to bail out corporations and shortchange hospitals and American workers,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “Senate Republicans shouldn’t have stood in the way of funds for hospitals and testing, and they should stand up to McConnell’s position that states should go bankrupt instead of rely on federal relief.”

After the NRSC rushed to show the “fealty” President Trump demands by asserting “there is no daylight” between Senate Republicans and the president’s unpopular coronavirus response,  the NRSC now “worries” that their “embattled incumbents are not receiving the lion’s share of credit” after blocking more funding in the pandemic relief measures for hospitals, unemployment insurance, and state and local governments — funding Senate Democrats fought to secure.

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