GOP Senators at odds with White House regarding COVID-19 relief package

Senate Republicans have offered support to the addition of extra funding in the proposed next relief package for Coronavirus testing. According to reports, by adding the extra funds for testing as proposed, the relief package could end up amounting to $2 trillion after Democratic demands are also included. On the other hand, the White House does not wish to include extra money for testing.

Intra-party conflict

According to reports, White House negotiators led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have claimed that majority of the states have not spent much of the money that has already been allocated for testing and therefore it does not make sense to add money in the next relief package towards testing. Back in April, the US Congress had allocated $25 billion for coronavirus testing.

On the other hand, Senators like Roy Blunt had claimed that not adding more money in the package for additional testing does not make sense, he added that quick and efficient coronavirus tests would allow children to go back to school and get people back to work. Senate Majority Whip John Thune claimed that he wants to see schools reopen as soon as they can and believes that additional tests and funding for tests will help with that.

Read: US: Surging Democrats Expand Senate Targets To GOP States

Read: US: Senate Democrats Seek Aid For Black Americans In Virus Bill

According to reports, Senate Republicans are afraid of losing their majority in the Senate come November and see Coronavirus testing as a really big political and policy issue. This disagreement with the White House about the allocation of budget for testing comes at a time when many Republicans are moving away from White House talking points and have begun to take the virus seriously. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told the media and his own constituents that the deadly coronavirus will not magically disappear.

The virus that originated in Wuhan last year has infected 14,655,405 people worldwide according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre, and the global death toll stands at 609,198. The United States currently has the highest number of Coronavirus cases in the world with 3,825,153 positive cases reported and thousands more being reported every day.

Read: Alabama Senate Race Sets Up To Be Contentious Slugfest

Read: Texans Vote In Senate Runoff As Virus Rages