‘Squad’ Members Denounce Stimulus Bill As Inadequate, Omar Says ‘Our Country’s Weakness is Greed’

Yesterday, President Trump signed into law a $484 billion coronavirus relief package to provide some aid to small businesses and the healthcare system. “The squad“, like many left-wing activists outside Congress, all denounced the bill as inadequate.

Ilhan Omar took to Twitter this morning to say that in her opinion, “our country’s weakness is not scarcity — it’s greed.” She suggested that “every single corporate CEO and executive” take a pay cut before “even considering furloughs or layoffs.”

As I’ve always said, our country’s weakness is not scarcity — it’s greed. Every single corporate CEO and executive should take a pay cut before even considering furloughs or layoffs.

As I’ve always said, our country’s weakness is not scarcity — it’s greed.

Every single corporate CEO and executive should take a pay cut before even considering furloughs or layoffs.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 25, 2020

AOC voted against the bill and said in another emotional, arm-flailing rant on the House floor, “If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1.”

“If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1.” Rep. AOC called out big corporations for receiving funding from Congress’s #COVID19 aid.

“If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1.”

Rep. @AOC called out big corporations for receiving funding from Congress’s #COVID19 aid. pic.twitter.com/fOkdZe33og

— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 24, 2020

Rashida Tlaib has introduced a bill to provide all Americans with $2,000 per month on debit cards throughout the emergency.

Rep. Tlaib was the first to propose legislation to provide all Americans with $2,000 per month on debit cards throughout the emergency—an idea that has since been folded into other progressive pandemic responses on Capitol Hill. https://t.co/C4Qp7Wc36U

— The Appeal (@theappeal) April 23, 2020

The lawmakers have privately pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to provide a clear idea of when the House will vote on a more ambitious “Phase 4” bill that includes progressive priorities. The Squad wants details on that timeline before House members, who came to Washington to vote on Thursday, return to their districts.

Ayanna Pressley’s chief of staff, Sarah Groh told Huffpost, “We need a timeline. We can’t just keep kicking the can down the road.”

Pelosi told Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne on Wednesday that the House will pass its own relief bill first in the next round of lawmaking. That bill will include liberal priorities like aid to cities and states, food stamp increases, universal voting by mail, and hazard pay for front-line health care workers. “If [the Senate wants] to pass their own bill, we’ll go to conference,” she said.

Pelosi’s office, however, declined to provide a concrete timeline for such a vote, saying that it depends both on how long it takes to craft the legislation and what the U.S. Capitol’s physician advises in terms of public health precautions.

A Pelosi spokesperson told HuffPost that “The Squad” members “have said that they want to move quickly on doing Phase 4.” She insisted though, that “Nancy Pelosi has been saying that for a month.”