Lindsey Graham breaks with GOP and says Senate should approve a bigger coronavirus stimulus package - as Nancy Pelosi sets 48 hour DEADLINE for the White House to resolve funding
Lindsey Graham thinks his Republican colleagues should agree to a heftier coronavirus stimulus package after Mitch McConnell announced he will put forward a $500 billion bill this week.
'There are some Republicans who don't want to spend anymore. I disagree,' Graham told 'Full Court Press' host Greta Van Susteren in a Sunday morning interview when speaking of those who don't want another relief package in general.
The South Carolina senator and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, however, said he opposes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's $2.2 trillion proposal because it includes provisions that 'reward illegal immigrants' and 'change election laws.'
'I think we need more money, but we don't need policy provisions like the House has, where you reward illegal immigrants with $1,200 bucks and you change election laws through the COVID relief package,' the Judiciary chairman said.
Graham added: 'So time will tell, and I think the president is right to want to go big, but it's got to be big and smart.'
Senator Lindsey Graham broke with some GOP colleagues when claiming Americans need another COVID relief bill – but slammed the Democrat package for 'rewarding illegal immigrants' and 'changing election laws'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell revealed Saturday that the Senate will vote Wednesday on the next relief package the Republican-controlled chamber is putting forward.
'I just announced the Senate will vote next week on hundreds of billions more dollars for relief programs that Democrats do not even oppose,' McConnell wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
The Kentucky Republican took a jab at Pelosi in his memo, adding that 'Working families have already waited too long for Speaker Pelosi's Marie Antoinette act to stop. Let's make law.'
The roughly $500 billion proposal includes funding for unemployment insurance, schools, additional COVID-19 testing along with other provisions.
The Senate will also cast a separate vote on Tuesday regarding more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, which expired in August.
On Saturday evening, Pelosi gave the White House a 48-hour deadline to resolve the contentious COVID-19 relief negotiations, which have become increasingly rooted in partisanship.
Pelosi says she set that deadline because she wants to get another sweeping package passed before the election on November 3 – and claims this is the last ditch effort by Democrats to make that happen.
'If you don't get that agreement in the 48 hour deadline you set, what happens?' ABC News' George Stephenopoulos asked Pelosi.
'Well, here's the thing, the 48 only relates to if we want to get it done before the election, which we do,' the California Democrat said.
'But we're saying to them, we have to freeze the design on some of these things. Are we going with it or not and what is the language?' she continued. 'I'm optimistic because, again, we've been back and forth on all of this.'
Democrats and Republicans disagree on fundamental parts of their respective relief packages, paving the way for another stall in negotiations after months of back and forth.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin had an hour-long conversation on Saturday regarding COVID-19 relief aid
Discussions over federal aid have pulled Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill into an ongoing, back-and-forth battle over the next deal's provisions.
But on Saturday evening, the House Speaker's office revealed that Pelosi had an hour-long phone conversation with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
It's unclear what stands to happen if the deadline, set for Monday, is not met.
'The Speaker and Secretary Mnuchin spoke at 7:40 p.m. by phone tonight for just over an hour,' Drew Hammill, Pelosi's chief of staff, wrote on Twitter.
'While there was some encouraging news on testing, there remains work to do to ensure there is a comprehensive testing plan that includes contact tracing and additional measures to address the virus' disproportionate impact on communities of color.'
'There remains an array of additional differences as we go provision by provision that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in the next 48 hours.'
Hammill then called on the White House to prove its commitment to reaching an agreement on the relief aid.
'Decisions must be made by the White House in order to demonstrate that the Administration is serious about reaching a bipartisan agreement that provides for Americans with the greatest needs during the pandemic,' wrote Hammill.
Drew Hammill, Nancy Pelosi's chief of staff, released a statement on Twitter that provided an update on the ongoing COVID-19 relief negotiations
Hammill revealed that Nancy Pelosi placed a 48 hour-deadline on the White House to address 'an array of additional differences' in relation to the potential bills
A spokesperson for Mnuchin told The Wall Street Journal that he and Pelosi were expected to speak again on Monday night.
Most recently, the White House unveiled a $1.88 trillion proposal that came just one week after House Democrats passed the $2.2 trillion relief bill this month.
'Even if you reach a deal with the White House somewhere around $1.82 trillion, Leader McConnell has said he's not going to put something like that on the floor of the Senate. So what happens?' Stephenapoulos asked Pelosi Sunday morning on 'This Week.'
'Well, he did – he said a number of things and one of the things that he said, I think it was yesterday, was… that if the White House and the House come to an agreement that he would put it on the floor,' she said. 'That is among his many statements.'
'But most of the time he spends it laughing,' she accused of the Senate Majority Leader. 'Pushing the pause button, telling states to go bankrupt, laughing.'
'This is not funny,' she berated of her GOP colleague. 'The president didn't take it seriously, McConnell has not taken it seriously. But we can stop this if we follow the science.'
Although both sides have made efforts to combat the financial fallout of the pandemic, they've struggled to find common ground on important policy issues.
Those disagreements have included how much funding to give state and local governments, as well as whether businesses should receive legal protections amid the pandemic.
Pictured: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during a debate with opponent Amy McGrath in Lexington, Kentucky
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement on Saturday and revealed the Senate will vote on Covid relief programs next week
In one instance, McConnell rejected a short-term spending bill draft from House Democrats that was intended to extend federal funding packages through December 11.
He blasted the draft as 'shameful' for not including provisions aimed at American farmers, a voting bloc that the Trump administration has devoted billions in relief to amid his trade wars and the pandemic.
Trump briefly stopped negotiations until after the November election, but reversed that decision and declared he wanted a bipartisan agreement.
Republicans have pushed for a series of singular bills, while Democrats have advocated for a sweeping package that addressed several sectors of the pandemic.
'I'm ready to sign a big, beautiful stimulus,' Trump announced during his NBC town hall event on Thursday.
Trump also said he was willing to spend more than the $1.88trillion White House package, but that would likely be a hard sell to some Republicans.
'A massive bill is a base killer. I don't think it's politically smart to be doing this for people that supported Donald Trump and a Republican Senate,' GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told WSJ.
'At some point in time, people will wonder: why are we voting for Republicans?...Or why vote at all?'
After halting COVID-19 relief aid discussions until after the November election, Trump reversed course and expressed interest in a bipartisan deal
Some GOP members have said nearly $2trillion in funding, in addition to the $3trillion approved by Congress, is too steep.
A handful Senate Republicans haven't backed any extra funding, while others argued anything more than $1trillion is not enough, WSJ reports.
Republicans will their hands full in the upcoming weeks as they attempt to prepare for the November election, construct tangible relief aid and vote on Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
'If Democrats do not obstruct this legislation, we will have time to pass it before we turn to Judge Barrett's nomination immediately after it comes out of committee,' said McConnell in his statement.
WSJ reports that Democrats will likely block the next wave of bills from Senate Republicans.
They've labeled the GOP's bill insufficient given the scope of the pandemic.