Senate Republicans Fail to Stand Up to McConnell to Demand Coronavirus Relief

McConnell Admitted to Caucus He Doesn’t Want a Deal Before Election; Stunt Vote Today Never Intended to Help Americans Who Have Lost Their Jobs, Are Facing Crises Because of Pandemic

Following reports Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the White House he does not want a coronavirus relief deal before the election, not a single Republican Senator has demanded McConnell negotiate on a serious relief effort that can pass Congress and help Americans. Instead, Republicans held another stunt vote on an insufficient pandemic relief package that shortchanges workers, schools, and state and local governments, and has no chance of passing. 

While Senate Republicans will use today’s vote to provide political cover for their vulnerable incumbents less than two weeks before Election Day, McConnell made it clear to his caucus yesterday that he doesn’t want to “make a big stimulus deal before the election” for fear it would “disrupt the Senate’s plans to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court next week.” Meanwhile, another new poll today shows that “a clear majority of voters want the Senate to focus on approving coronavirus relief rather than filling the Supreme Court vacancy.”

“Mitch McConnell said it himself – today’s vote was never meant to deliver the urgent relief Americans need to get through this crisis and instead is nothing more than a political stunt to give vulnerable Senate Republicans a campaign trail talking point as they desperately try to save their seats,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “Today’s last-ditch maneuver from Senate Republicans is several months late and several million dollars short, and voters will soon hold them accountable for turning their backs on American families throughout this pandemic.”

After letting emergency unemployment aid expire in July, Senate Republicans have taken a month-long vacation, pushed a stunt bill that even President Trump said didn’t meet Americans’ needs, and turned their backs on the millions of Americans who desperately need help. Instead, they’ve decided to focus on rushing through their Supreme Court nominee who is hostile to the Affordable Care Act in time to seat her on the court before oral arguments in the GOP lawsuit to strike down the entire ACA a week after Election Day. 

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