Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is taking a swing at Democrats for their latest move to unveil a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package.
While McConnell is not ruling out another relief package, he is not quite ready to accept what Democrats have put on the table.
Fox News’ Bret Baier asked McConnell if he would be able to go back and forth with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as he and other Republicans have done in the past.
McConnell explained the relief package is not something that is “salvageable.”
“Well, it’s a 1,800-page liberal wish list. It strikes me as hardly salvageable,” McConnell said.
Watch his comments below:
He went on to list what he believes are the main issues with the bill.
“There’s money in there for illegal immigrants. It mentions the word cannabis of all things 68 times, more than the word jobs or hire are mentioned in the entire bill,” McConnell said.
He added, “It’s a parade of absurdities that can hardly be taken seriously.”
McConnell also issued a series of tweets expressing his frustration with the bill.
The Senate will keep working seriously on this serious pandemic. We wrote the CARES Act. Now we’re back in Washington. We’re holding hearings with experts about the re-opening. We’re monitoring testing. We’re drafting legal protections for healthcare workers and small businesses.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) May 14, 2020
This is not the first time McConnell has criticized the proposed relief package, as IJR previously reported.
McConnell said on Tuesday this “is not something designed to deal with reality, but designed to deal with aspirations.”
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also called the bill a wishlist and an “unacceptable prospect,” as IJR previously reported.
President Donald Trump also weighed in on the bill.
He said Wednesday the bill will not make it far. He is going to take the time to really think about what needs to go into it.
The relief package would allocate $1 trillion to state and local governments, send direct payments of up to $6,000 per household, and provide $25 billion for the U.S. Post Office.
The House of Representatives is expected to debate and vote the the bill on Friday.