Sen. Minority Leader Charles E Schumer said Thursday Democrats are preparing to unveil a massive “Rooseveltian” coronavirus relief package.
Mr. Schumer said he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are still working on the package but should be ready to roll it out “shortly.”
“We need Franklin Rooseveltian-type action and we hope to take that in the House and Senate in a very big and bold way,” he said on MSNBC.
The New York Democrat went further on the Senate Floor, comparing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Trump’s reluctance to move another large spending bill to that of President Herbert Hoover.
Mr. Hoover, in office during the Great Depression, wrongly predicted that the economy would recover quickly at the onset of the country’s worst economic crisis and didn’t ramp up the federal government’s response as calls grew. The crisis started in the fall of 1929 and lasted until the end of the 1930s.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who came into office in 1933, took over the crisis and responded with The New Deal, an unprecedented influx of government spending on programs, public works, and financial reforms.
“President Herbert Hoover was reluctant to use natural resources to combat a national crisis,” Mr. Schumer said. “His failure to act contributed to the length and severity of the depression.”
“If President Trump responds with the same timidity as President Hoover did, I fear the nation would suffer the same consequences as it did in the past,” he added.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said she’s aiming to have the House reconvene next week to vote on the Democrats’ plan.
The past four coronavirus bills have all been spearheaded by a bipartisan negotiation process — but Democrats are planning to lead with their own version of this fifth package.
Mrs. Pelosi said she hopes Republicans understand the Democrats’ priorities have bipartisan support across the country, but “we have to start someplace.”
“It is a reflection of the needs of the American people,” she said. “We need a presidential signature so at some point we’ll have to come to an agreement.”
Democrats want to go far beyond the $2.2 trillion CARES package passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in March. Since the crisis began, Congress has spent nearly $3 trillion fighting the pandemic.
In this fifth package, Democrats want to secure likely more than $500 billion for state, county and municipal governments, as well as additional funding for states to use on Medicare. They also intend to expand unemployment insurance beyond the $600 per week allotted in the CARES package, address issues with the small business loan program and provide hazard pay to essential frontline workers.
There has also been talk of included funds for a massive infrastructure project and vote-by-mail procedures to ensure the November election isn’t derailed by the pandemic.
