Shutterstock
On Thursday, Mitch McConnell’s “skinny” variant of the COVID relief bill failed to amass the 60 votes it needed to pass the Senate. All Democrats and one Republican in the chamber opposed the measure.
Democrats singled out how low the payments in the bill were, and the lack of state and local assistance. Moreover, Democrats noted the bill included no food assistance for struggling families, and no direct payments to citizens.
Rand Paul was the lone dissenting Republican. Democrats have opposed “skinny” or piecemeal measures to the pandemic relief effort wholeheartedly. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, has expressed the concern that Republicans would use a skinny relief bill at the exclusion of other measures.
In essence, Schumer argues, McConnell would use the skinny bill to shut up Democrats while spending far less than Democrats would prefer to spend on the pandemic.
The Senate Majority Leader has been adamant about not wanting to spend large sums of federal funds on a relief bill. However, Democrats aren’t budging on their demands for a massive stimulus bill.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, as well as Chuck Schumer have whipped Democrats into a united front. No members of the Democratic Party have voted in line with McConnell’s skinny bill. It’s unlikely that any lessened spending bill will pass the Senate.
Many pundits were surprised that only one Republican opposed McConnell’s bill. The lack of direct payment to citizens was the most surprising aspect of the bill for many.
Since both Democrats and Republicans have supported the direct payments, their absence in the bill was baffling. Republicans in the Senate seem aware that they are largely being blamed for obstructing meaningful legislation on the pandemic.
McConnell remained defiant Thursday, saying Democrats who opposed the bill “can tell American families they care more about politics than helping them”. However, McConnell’s insistence on the culpability of Democrats rings hollow for many pundits.
No amount of cleaning supplies could hide the mess that is McConnell’s handling of the relief bill. Since House Democrats passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act in May, McConnell has refused to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote.
In fact, through the month of August, McConnell had the Senate in recess even after the CARES Act’s provisions expired at the end of July. For many, it seems McConnell’s statement about putting politics before American families applies more to himself than his political rivals.
