Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, lambasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for adjourning the Senate for the Thanksgiving holiday recess without passing coronavirus relief legislation.
“People across the country are going hungry, COVID is set to explode, and Mitch McConnell dismissed the Senate last week. I don’t know how these people can sleep at night. I really don’t,” the progressive lawmaker, who recently won reelection to a second term, wrote in a tweet on Monday.
McConnell justified blocking the relief package, blaming Democrats for including “unrelated” items to the pandemic.
“For months, Republicans have tried to make bipartisan progress on huge areas of COVID relief where there’s no disagreement. Vaccine distribution funds. Another round of the PPP for hard-hit small businesses. But Democrats blocked it all over their unrelated liberal wish-list,” the Kentucky Republican tweeted last week.
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President-elect Joe Biden also called on Congress last week to quickly pass a relief bill to aid Americans who have been affected by COVID-19.
“Right now, Congress should come together and pass a COVID relief package like the HEROES Act that the House passed six months ago,” Biden said. “Once we shut down the virus and deliver economic relief to workers and businesses, then we can start to build back better than before.”
In May, House Democrats passed a $3 trillion version of the HEROES Act and passed a $2.2 trillion version in October. Both have been criticized by Senate Republicans for being “too expensive” even if it saves lives.
More than 12 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, and 257,000 related deaths have been reported in the U.S.
People across the country are going hungry, COVID is set to explode, and Mitch McConnell dismissed the Senate last week.
I don’t know how these people can sleep at night. I really don’t.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 23, 2020
