McConnell Says ‘Dead On Arrival’ to Pelosi $3T ‘We Must Think Big’ House Coronavirus Relief Bill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and members of the Senate GOP caucus decried the roughly $3 trillion House Coronavirus relief bill unveiled on Tuesday, declaring it “dead on arrival” in the Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had said that “We must think big” in a speech earlier when unveiling the proposal.

McConnell, spoke to reporters after a closed-door caucus meeting and said Republicans would “insist on narrowly targeted legislation.” 

He deadpanned, “What you’ve seen in the House, Nancy, is not something designed to deal with reality, but designed to deal with aspirations. This is not a time for aspirational legislation, this is a time for practical response to the Coronavirus pandemic.”

Sen. John Thune from South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican in Senate, argued that the House bill was not designed to pass, calling it a “messaging exercise” and said “it wasn’t a sincere effort, or meaningful effort, to address a crisis that is being faced by the American people, but it clearly is an effort to try and create talking points for the 2020 election.”

Senator John Barrasso from Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican senator, vowed that it would “never pass the Senate” and called the House bill a “payoff” to Pelosi’s constituents.

Senator Lindsey Graham echoed McConnell by also saying that the bill was “dead on arrival.”

The bill could be voted on in the House as soon as Friday, includes funding for food assistance, state and local governments, another round of direct stimulus payments to individuals and hazard pay for essential workers, among other provisions.