President Trump stopped by Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to huddle with Republican Senators about the what’s next in the effort to recover from the coronavirus.
“The priority we have is a priority for the country,” President Trump said Tuesday.
“Not a $3 trillion dollar far left liberal wish list,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) said.
Young said the $3-trillion-dollar HEROES Act passed by the House on Friday won’t fly in the Senate.
“That’s DOA that’s not gonna happen,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said.
Senator Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida (R-FL) want to see the funding Congress has already approved take full effect before signing off on more.
“You don’t want to write a solution for a problem the way it is today when by the time the law is in place it’s gonna look different,” Rubio added.
At the heart of the Republican plan for additional relief are protections for businesses that reopen as states lift stay at home orders and re-start their economies.
“So that doctors, small businesses, schoolteachers and universities do not face a second epidemic of frivolous lawsuits,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) the Senate Majority Leader said Tuesday morning.
“That’s exactly what we’ll have if any bill is to pass in the future,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA) the House Minority Leader said Tuesday afternoon.
But Democrats like Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama (D-AL) said the need is urgent, and the Senate should vote on the House HEROES act now.
“The coronavirus is not waiting. We cannot wait,” Sewell said.
The Senate is set to leave for a week-long Memorial Day recess later this week.
