On Thursday, Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate, choosing to send his colleagues home until September while American families suffer the crushing economic impacts of Donald Trump’s failed coronavirus pandemic response.
For months, McConnell and Senate Republicans have refused to take up the HEROES Act passed by House Democrats in May and allowed extended unemployment benefits to expire, leaving American families to fend for themselves. Meanwhile. Donald Trump has continued to undermine, experts, downplay the dangers of the virus, and push schools and states to reopen before it is safe to do so, with disastrous results.
In response, Protect Our Care’s Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas released the following statement:
“Once again, Senate Republicans are choosing to do what they do best – make life harder for American families.
“By refusing to take up the HEROES Act for months and then delegating negotiating efforts to an unserious White House, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have let unemployment benefits expire, allowed funding for coronavirus testing to lapse and repeatedly backed up Donald Trump’s botched pandemic response.
“Meanwhile, Donald Trump is busy driving the economy further into the ground and putting more American lives in danger with his repeated politically-motivated push to reopen states and schools before it’s safe.
“Families across the country are struggling to figure out how to put food on the table and wondering if their kids are going to get sick when they’re forced to go back to a crowded school. And Senate Republicans are fleeing town as more Americans lose their jobs, get sick and die.”