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House Minority Whip Steve Scalise on Friday blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for putting forth a “socialist grab bag” relief bill without consulting with President Trump or Republicans.
“You’re seeing so many states, by the way, safely reopening. Thirty-six have already done it. My home state of Louisiana is reopening in phase one today safely. People know how to go out and be around other people in a safe way and start getting the economy going again,” the Republican Louisiana lawmaker told “America’s Newsroom.”
He said businesses want help to get back “up and running” and that’s what lawmakers should be focused on.
Scalise said that the bill contains “paying illegal [immigrants] and providing bailouts for states that were poorly governed” prior to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing Democrats continue to ignore Republicans’ calls for holding China accountable for the virus outbreak.
“Why isn’t Nancy Pelosi working to hold China accountable? For some reason, she called China a distraction. No, China created this and hid from the world what was happening and, by the way, they’re holding back the personal protective equipment that is being made in China,” he added.
Pelosi on Friday pushed to rally support for Democrats’ latest $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, even as the White House has threatened to veto the legislation and Republican lawmakers have blasted it as a “parade of absurdities.” The White House, in a formal veto threat overnight, said the bill is packed with “ideological wish lists.”
But Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday morning, penned a letter to all House lawmakers urging “careful consideration” of the latest stimulus package, titled the HEROES Act, which comes up for a showdown vote later in the day.
The new bill introduced this week is more than 1,800 pages long and has a price tag of roughly $3 trillion. The package includes another $1,200 stimulus payment for each family member in a household, totaling up to $6,000.
The bill allocates nearly $1 trillion to state, local and tribal governments for “honoring our heroes.” The bill also creates a “Heroes Fund,” which provides $200 billion to essential workers who worked during the pandemic as hazard pay.
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The bill also extends the Paycheck Protection Program and adds $10 billion in COVID-19 emergency grants.
The White House chided Democrats for making certain undocumented immigrants eligible for the second round of $1,200 direct payments, for including a $25 billion “bailout” for the U.S. Postal Service and for funding vote-by-mail and same-day registration priorities.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
