Senate Republicans facing increasingly difficult reelections are staying the course—bowing to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and taking President Trump’s “election year cues” instead of standing up for their states.
Yesterday, McConnell said Senate Republicans don’t see a need to act immediately on additional coronavirus relief after meeting with Trump, despite the fact that more than 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment during the pandemic, 27 million Americans have likely lost their health coverage, and more than 91,000 Americans have died.
These staggering numbers also haven’t moved Republican senators to fight for their constituents. Senate Republicans like Martha McSally, Thom Tillis, and Cory Gardner still refuse to stand up for their states by standing up to McConnell’s position that the federal government should let states use “the bankruptcy route” instead of providing much-needed federal aid so states and cities can continue providing essential services like emergency response, paying health care workers, and education.
Senate Republicans who’ve worked “hand in glove” with Trump on his failed coronavirus response have also refused to take action to challenge the Trump administration’s decision to keep health coverage enrollment closed. Republicans’ failure to demand the president open a special enrollment period is making it more difficult for Americans — including those who lost their employer-provided coverage — to get health care during a pandemic. Meanwhile, Republicans’ assault on the health care law wages on unabated despite the public health crisis, and not a single GOP senator has taken meaningful steps to stop their party’s lawsuit to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act.
“Senate Republicans’ election-year strategy is to bow to McConnell and Trump’s reckless agenda instead of fighting for their states — and it’s going to cost them in November,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “At a time when states across the country are desperate for relief, the fact that these Republican senators still choose to stand with their Washington party bosses at all costs reveals where their priorities truly lie.”
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