Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, joined other Republicans on Tuesday who expressed disapproval of President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, calling the project “jalopy”.
Romney wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal and pointed to a recent analysis by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office.
ROMNEY: TRUMP IS PROBABLY GOP PICK IF IT RUNS
The study showed that “more than a third of the proposed funding – $ 700 billion – would not be spent until 2022 or later, undermining the government’s claim that the huge price is justified for urgent pandemic needs.”
SENS. COTTON, ROMNEY PROPOSES TO INCREASE THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE TO $ 10 WITH A PHASE-APPROACH
The Republican Studies Committee (RSC) wrote a three-page memo to conservatives this week to outline “all the left-wing items that Democrats hope the public will not find out about.”
Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, joined other Republicans on Tuesday who expressed disapproval of President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, calling the project “jalopy”. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger-Pool / Getty Images)
Among the provisions that raise eyebrows among conservatives are $ 1,400 stimulus checks that go to mixed-status families with undocumented immigrants; allowing the planned Parenthood to receive funds from the Payment Check Protection Program (PPP) to keep small businesses running; and nearly $ 600 million for additional paid emergency family leave for federal employees and US Postal workers, according to the RSC memo.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer predicted that the Senate would approve the bill before March 14.
Biden may face serious challenges in his attempt to win Republican support for his proposal, especially with a $ 15 hourly federal minimum wage requirement and how much should be channeled to struggling state and local governments. At least two Democrats – Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – signaled that they may not support the salary increase, putting the simple Democratic majority at risk.
Romney wrote that the bill “would waste hundreds of billions of dollars, do nothing significant to get children back to school, and enact policies that work against job creation.”
Fox News Marisa Schultz and the Associated Press contributed to this report