House of Representatives Twice Passed Sweeping Relief That McConnell Refused to Take Up
On October 20, McConnell “Warned” White House Not to Strike Any Pre-Election Deal With Pelosi, Including $1.8 Trillion Package
On October 15, McConnell Publicly Pledged to Block Any Pelosi, Mnuchin Deal on Senate Floor
Nearly 34 Million Americans Have Filed for Unemployment, Millions Have Fallen Into Poverty Since House First Passed HEROES
16.6 Million+ Infected, 233K+ Deaths Since McConnell Refused to Take Up Bill
Since the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act on May 15, Mitch McConnell has stood between suffering Americans and meaningful coronavirus relief. Not only did McConnell refuse to take the HEROES Act up for a Senate vote, but he also sabotaged good-faith negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House in October.
McConnell “warned” the White House not to strike a deal with Pelosi, ramming through Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett rather than working on an aid package before the election. Then, he torpedoed bipartisan negotiations in a corrupt attempt to exact special legal protections for his corporate donors.
The result? A too-little, too-late relief package that will go only a short way in easing the suffering of millions of Americans who have tumbled into poverty and lost loved ones, livelihoods, businesses and homes as the pandemic relentlessly ravaged the United States.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Refused to Act on Relief Month After Month as the Virus Devastated the US
- On December 1, McConnell Rejected A $908 Billion Stimulus Package Proposed By A Partisan Group Of Senators. “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected a proposed bipartisan coronavirus stimulus package Tuesday amid months of congressional inaction on curbing the economic damage from the outbreak. The Kentucky Republican, who has supported about $500 billion in new aid spending, said he wants to pass what he called a ‘targeted relief bill’ this year. McConnell said he spoke to White House officials about what President Donald Trump would sign into law. He plans to offer potential solutions to GOP senators and get their feedback. ‘We just don’t have time to waste time,’ he told reporters in response to the roughly $908 billion plan put together by bipartisan members of the GOP-controlled Senate and Democratic-held House.” [CNBC, 12/1/20]
- McConnell Obstructed Desperately-Needed Aid To Push For Special Legal Protections For Corporations. “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has said that any package that passes the Senate must include beefed-up liability protections. GOP legislation would make it more difficult for courts to find businesses, schools, or health-care facilities at fault if employees, students, or customers contracted Covid-19. It also would give federal courts jurisdiction over cases involving alleged coronavirus exposure and last through 2024, Mr. McConnell said.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/7/20]
- McConnell Rushed To Confirm Amy Coney Barrett, Rather Than Negotiate Coronavirus Relief For Americans. “The Senate has adjourned until after Election Day, making it increasingly unlikely that Congress will pass a coronavirus relief bill before then. After confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, a priority for Republicans and President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate until November 9. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been negotiating for weeks over a relief bill, inching closer to a deal which could reach to $2 trillion… CBS News confirmed last week that McConnell told Senate Republicans that he had warned the White House against reaching an agreement on a coronavirus relief bill ahead of the election.” [CBS, 10/27/20]
- McConnell “Warned” The White House Not To Strike A Deal With Pelosi On Stimulus Funding, Despite Americans Suffering. “Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, privately told Republican senators on Tuesday that he had warned the White House not to strike a pre-election deal with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a new round of stimulus, moving to head off an agreement that President Trump has demanded but most in his party oppose. Mr. McConnell’s remarks, confirmed by four Republicans familiar with them, threw cold water on Mr. Trump’s increasingly urgent push to enact a new round of pandemic aid before Election Day. They came just as Ms. Pelosi offered an upbeat assessment of her negotiations with Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, telling Democrats that their latest conversation had yielded ‘common ground as we move closer to an agreement.’” [New York Times, 10/20/20]
- As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Negotiated On Relief With The White House, McConnell Pushed Legislation That Trump Himself Called Too Puny. “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reported some progress in advance of a Tuesday deadline for reaching a pre-election deal with President Donald Trump on a new coronavirus relief package, but the same core problems bedeviling the effort remain in place despite optimistic talk from the president and his team… Trump’s GOP allies in the Senate are backing a virus proposal that at $650 billion or so is only about one-third the size of the measure that Pelosi and Mnuchin are negotiating. But the Senate GOP bill has failed once before, and Trump himself says it’s too puny.” [Associated Press, 10/19/20]
- White House Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows Acknowledged That Senate Republicans Led By McConnell Were Likely To Block The Administration’s $1.8 Trillion Relief Proposal. “The White House acknowledged Senate Republicans are more unlikely to support a relief bill the higher the price tag goes. The administration has not publicly released details of its plan or text of proposed legislation. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, one of the lead White House negotiators, said Monday, ‘The Senate Republicans have been very vocal in terms of their lack of support of a number that isn’t even close to what the president has already supported at the $1.8 trillion range.’ Whether enough Republican senators would support a deal is ‘up to Leader (Mitch) McConnell,’ he said, referring to the Kentucky Republican and Senate majority leader.” [USA Today, 10/19/20]
- On October 15, McConnell Expressed That He Was Not Willing To Go “Where The Administration’s Willing To Go” On A Large Relief Package. “McConnell specifically asked if there can be a compromise in the $1.8T-$2.2T range: ‘I don’t think so … That’s where the administration’s willing to go. My members think what we laid out, a half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go.’” [Twitter, @ericawerner, 10/15/20]
- McConnell Refused To Bring A Compromise Negotiated By House Speaker Nancy Pelosi And Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin To The Senate Floor. “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Thursday that he wouldn’t put a coronavirus relief bill negotiated between the White House and Democrats up for a vote on the Senate floor, effectively torpedoing a deal… McConnell said that a package negotiated between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was ‘not what I’m going to put on the floor.’” [Business Insider, 10/15/20]
- McConnell Refused To Bring The HEROES Act To The Floor After The Relief Package Passed The House On October 1. “‘Secretary Mnuchin and the Speaker are continuing to speak, but we’re very very far apart,’ McConnell said, as reported by Reuters. He dismissed the pared-down HEROES Act as ‘outlandish.’ The Republican-majority chamber has repeatedly called for a smaller aid package, arguing the House’s proposals are too costly.” [Fortune, 10/1/20]
- McConnell Refused To Bring The HEROES Act To The Floor After The Relief Package Passed The House On May 15. “On Friday evening, the House passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill providing assistance to state and local governments, hazard pay for frontline health care workers, student debt forgiveness and bolstered Medicaid and Medicare. The bill is known as the HEROES Act, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act…McConnell has backed off an earlier statement that states should be allowed to go bankrupt, conceding that there will have to be another relief bill at some point. However, he said his red line is the inclusion of liability-protection provisions for businesses to keep them from being sued if workers or patrons are infected with COVID-19. The House bill will now go the Senate, where Republican senators have already indicated the bill is dead on arrival.” [CBS News, 5/15/20]
As McConnell Obstructed, Millions of Americans Filed for Unemployment, Fell Into Poverty, Missed Rent Payments
- Almost Seventy Million Americans, About Forty Percent Of The Labor Force In The United States, Have Filed For Unemployment Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “The number is nearly four times the precrisis level but is well below the peak of almost 7 million that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued in March. Almost 70 million Americans, or about 40% of the labor force, have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic. The number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell to 5.508 million, a decline of about 273,000 from the previous week.” [Fox News, 12/12/20]
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- By May 15, The Day The House Of Representatives First Passed The HEROES Act Relief Package, Thirty-Six Million Americans Had Filed For Unemployment Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “Since early March, over 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment due to the coronavirus crisis, marking the biggest spike in unemployment in U.S. history. In response to these claims, states have paid a record $48 billion in unemployment benefits to people out of work but several recent studies have found that this total could have been much higher.” [CNBC, 5/15/20]
- 20.6 Million Americans Are Currently Collecting Unemployment Benefits. “BREAKING: 1.4 million Americans filed *new* unemployment claims last week — the highest level in weeks. Rising layoffs are an alarm bell that Congress needs to pass more stimulus. Overall, 20.6 million Americans are on unemployment aid as we head into holidays.” [Twitter, @byHeatherLong, 12/17/20]
- New Data Released By Researchers At The University of Chicago And The University Of Notre Dame Shows That Nearly 8 Million Americans Have Fallen Into Poverty Since June. “The U.S. poverty rate has surged over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty, the latest indication of how deeply many are struggling after government aid dwindled. The poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November, up 2.4 percentage points since June, according to new data released Wednesday by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame.” [Washington Post, 12/16/20]
- The US In 2020 Saw The Biggest Jump In Poverty In Sixty Years. “It is the biggest jump in a single year since the government began tracking poverty 60 years ago. It is nearly double the next-largest rise, which occurred in 1979-1980 during the oil crisis, according to James X. Sullivan, a professor at Notre Dame, and Bruce D. Meyer, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.” [Washington Post, 12/16/20]
- One In Three US Adults Reports Having Difficulty Covering Basic Expenses Like Food, Rent Or Car Payments. “Today, amid the pandemic, a third of U.S. adults say they are having difficulty covering everyday costs such as food, rent or car payments. While people with the lowest incomes face the biggest challenges, even some households making above $200,000 are straining to pay basic expenses.” [NPR, 12/16/20]
- In Mid-November, Nearly 26 Million Adults — 12 Percent Of All Adults In The US — Reported That Their Household Sometimes Or Often Didn’t Have Enough Food To Eat. “Data from several sources show a dramatic increase in the number of households struggling to put enough food on the table. Nearly 26 million adults — 12 percent of all adults in the country — reported that their household sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat in the last seven days, according to Household Pulse Survey data collected November 11–23. This was far above the pre-pandemic rate: a recent survey released by the Agriculture Department found that 3.4 percent of adults reported that their household had ‘not enough to eat’ at some point over the full 12 months of 2019.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/10/20]
- Sixty Percent Of Businesses — An Estimated 100,000 Establishments — That Closed Temporarily During The Pandemic Are Now Closed For Good. “The coronavirus pandemic has taken a brutal toll on the U.S. economy. Job losses resulting from the health crisis wiped out years’ worth of gains, hitting women, people of color and lower-paid workers already vulnerable to economic swings the hardest. An estimated 60 percent of businesses — about 100,000 individual establishments — that closed their doors temporarily as a result of Covid-19 have shut down for good, and more may follow in the months to come.” [New York Times, 12/16/20]
It Never Had to Be This Bad: In the Months Following McConnell’s Obstruction, the Virus Overtook the United States
- The United States Is Losing One Life To Coronavirus Every 33 Seconds. “In the United States last week, someone died from COVID-19 every 33 seconds. The disease claimed more than 18,000 lives in the seven days ended Dec. 20, up 6.7% from the prior week to hit another record high, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports.” [Reuters, 12/21/20]
- 31 States In The US Are Reporting Test Positivity Rates Of 10 Percent Or Greater. “Across the United States, 11.3% of tests came back positive for the virus, down from 12% the prior week, according to data from the volunteer-run COVID Tracking Project. Out of 50 states, 31 had a positive test rate of 10% or higher. The highest rates were in Iowa and Idaho at over 40%. The World Health Organization considers positive test rates above 5% concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.” [Reuters, 12/21/20]
- 2020 Is The Deadliest Year In US History, With Fatalities Jumping 15 Percent Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic. “This is the deadliest year in U.S. history, with deaths expected to top 3 million for the first time — due mainly to the coronavirus pandemic. Final mortality data for this year will not be available for months. But preliminary numbers suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019. U.S. deaths increase most years, so some annual rise in fatalities is expected. But the 2020 numbers amount to a jump of about 15%, and could go higher once all the deaths from this month are counted.” [Associated Press, 12/22/20]
- Over The Last Week, The United States Averaged 219,000 New Infections Daily, And On December 18 Reported Almost 250,000 New Cases. “Over the last week, the US averaged more than 219,000 new Covid-19 infections a day, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. There were more than 249,000 infections reported on Friday alone — another record.” [CNN, 12/19/20]
- The United States Is Reporting Six Times As Many Cases And Three Times As Many Deaths Each Day As It Did Three Months Ago. “The country reached a terrible milestone this week, with more than 3,000 deaths announced across the country on Wednesday, Dec. 9. And conditions continue to worsen. Just three months ago, cases in the U.S. were trending downward. Death reports were relatively flat. There are now nearly six times as many cases each day and three times as many deaths. Experts warn ‘the worst is yet to come.’” [New York Times, 12/16/20]
- On December 16, 3,611 People In The United States Died From COVID-19, The Most Of Any Day Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “More than 1.6 million people around the world have died from Covid-19, according to a New York Times database. In the U.S. alone, more than 315,000 people have died — 3,611 of them on Wednesday [December 16], shattering the previous single-day record of 3,157 on Dec. 9.” [New York Times, 12/21/20]