Congressional Democrats are pushing for additional COVID-19 relief measures to help blunt the economic impact from the coronavirus shutdowns.
However, Republicans are accusing their colleagues of using a global pandemic to implement a socialist agenda in the United States.
During an interview on Fox News on Monday, House Minority LeaderĀ Kevin McCarthyĀ (R-Calif) said, āItās really sickening that Democrats are using this opportunity to enforce their socialism.ā
He continued to tick off a series of provisions in House Democratsā recently passed $3 trillion coronavirus bill which he called a āsocialist wishlist.ā
āThese are all things that are socialist wishlist that theyāve been trying to pass long before COVID ever came to this land. And thatās exactly what theyāre trying to do, knowing that it will not go anywhere. Theyāre just using this as an opportunity to restructure government,ā McCarthy added.
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On Friday, the House passed the Democratic bill in a narrow 208-199 vote.
The latest bill expands upon the $2 trillion CARES Act that was signed into law in late-March.
Democratsā newest bill would give hazard pay to workers on the frontline of the coronavirus fight, provide $500 billion for state and local governments, and provide another round of direct payments to Americans.
The bill is not expected to make it very far, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted the bill and said that it is āhardly salvageable.ā
āItās a 1,800-page liberal wish list. It strikes me as hardly salvageable,ā McConnell said on Thursday, adding, āItās a parade of absurdities that can hardly be taken seriously.ā
Additionally, President Donald Trump said the bill is ādead on arrival.ā
While Republicans have balked at another spending package right now, Democrats argue the country needs a āRooseveltianā package to help the economy.
āThis is a crisis. This is not simply you take out a page out of a conservative playbook, conservative economics handbook of 2017,ā Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
He added, āThis is new, adopt to the times. Let me say something, when we had the Great Depression, there were people who said letās sit and do nothing. They didnāt go down in history very well. Franklin Roosevelt did.ā
