Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who has largely been MIA over the past couple of months is now starting to make a bit of noise regarding the next stimulus package.
At a private lunch with fellow Republicans today, he reportedly told other Republicans that “he has warned the White House not to divide Republicans by sealing a lopsided pre-election COVID-19 relief deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
McConnell is worried that an agreement between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin would drive a wedge between Republicans by forcing them to choose to support a Democrat created deal that would run contrary to the core positions that conservatives have.
Conservatives have maintained a position of trying to avoid spending as much as possible.
The highest that they have been willing to go with a new stimulus package is around $1 trillion and they have introduced bills around the $500 billion mark as well.
If the White House were to come out of negotiations with Pelosi and present a bill valued at around $1.8 trillion, that would force some Republicans to abandon their position that they would prefer not to.
Interestingly though, McConnell said that if a bill did pass through the Democratic-controlled House with Trump’s approval, he would put it on the floor of the Senate.
This goes back to the storyline that I have talked about several times regarding how Republicans really feel about another stimulus package.
We’ve heard many Republicans be vocal about not wanting to spend more but there have also been growing rumors that there are plenty of Republicans willing to get on board with a pretty big stimulus package as long as it is spent smartly.
This is the position that Lindsey Graham and other Republican senators have.
The lack of outward support could be a mere negotiating tactic where you don’t let your opponent know where you stand so as to not give up any leverage.
But it could also be Republicans realizing how desperate their constituents are for more stimulus aid and evolving their position over the span of several months.
Remember, we first started to hear about another stimulus still back in April after the Cares Act came out.
A lot has developed over seven months and so it’s perfectly understandable that some people will have changed their position over that time in terms of what they deem is “acceptable” spending.
Although some people might view McConnell’s statement as a negative development I honestly think it is more of a positive sign that Republicans will actually get on board with a large stimulus package.
I don’t think McConnell would be “warning” anybody about what needs to happen unless he truly felt like a large deal was on the horizon.
And the fact that he admitted he would put it on the Senate floor just adds credence to what some others have been saying about Republicans getting on board with such a package.
So while it is still impossible to know how Republicans will vote, I honestly think this is more of a good sign than a bad sign.
Related
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Pelosi says stimulus deal must be made in 48 hours to get aid out before election
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
