WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) Senate Republicans will discuss the way forward in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic over the next two weeks, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.
"We have had preliminary discussions about what comes next," McConnell on Tuesday said after a meeting with other Republican Senate leaders and President Donald Trump. "We still believe we will discuss the way forward in the next couple of weeks."
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attacked McConnell for complacency and inaction, accusing him of being too slow and passive in responding to the great economic crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression.
"McConnell thinks we can wait till June or July. [But] at the end of June, we will see the end of the paycheck protection program. And at the end of July we will see the end of the (emergency) unemployment payments," he said.
Schumer described the Republican pause on assessing the impact of recently passed legislation as being "a riverboat gamble" that Americans would pay the price for with their families, their homes and their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the Senate to pass a new multi-trillion Dollar relief package.
"We still do not know the full scale of the tragedy gripping our nation. That is why testing & tracing are at the core of The #HeroesAct. The Senate must pass this legislation to ensure we have the information needed to fight back against COVID-19," Pelosi said in a tweet.
Last week, House Democrats approved a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill. But Republicans led by the president quickly rejected the bill signed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on grounds that it included aid for illegal immigrants.
