Nancy Pelosi unveils Democrats' new $3 TRILLION coronavirus aid package with up to $6,000 direct cash for every household - setting up clash with Trump and Republicans

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, encouraging Congress to 'go big' with aid to cash-strapped states and struggling Americans.
The Heroes Act provides nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs and another $200 billion in 'hazard pay' for essential workers, according to a 90-page summary. It will offer $1,200 direct cash aid to individuals, up to $6,000 per household. There is $75 billion more for virus testing . 
A vote is expected Friday in the House but Republicans called it 'dead on arrival' in the Senate. 
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday it appears the sweeping Democratic-led bill 'will be ready' to call lawmakers back to Washington for the vote.
'This is an unprecedented time in our history,' Hoyer said about the virus outbreak and economic shutdown. He said Congress needs to act in 'unprecedented ways.'
Pelosi said during spoken remarks on the bill Tuesday afternoon, inciting the name of the legislation, that 'We must have empathy for our heroes.' 
'The healthcare workers for how exhausted and how stressed they are doing their jobs,' she continued. 'Add to that, they may lose their jobs in this economy. We must also empathize with the pain of families who do not know where their next meals are coming from and how to pay next month's rent.'
The legislation, however, is heading straight into a Senate roadblock. Senate Republicans are not planning to vote on any new relief until June, after a Memorial Day recess.
Massive new effort: Nancy Pelosi's package is far larger than previous legislation - but already Republicans are pushing back on any legislation
Massive new effort: Nancy Pelosi's package is far larger than previous legislation - but already Republicans are pushing back on any legislation
One-third of the $3 trillion package will go to state and local governments to make sure there is enough money to keep paying essential workers
One-third of the $3 trillion package will go to state and local governments to make sure there is enough money to keep paying essential workers
'I don't think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately,' McConnell told reporters Monday at the Capitol of Senate Republicans
'I don't think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately,' McConnell told reporters Monday at the Capitol of Senate Republicans 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there is no 'urgency' to act.
The proposed legislation will also face backlash from Republicans and the president as it doesn't include any more money for the payment protection program – a relief fund set up to help businesses with less than 500 employees keep their workers on the payroll and prevent owners from losing their small businesses.
Applications for the $600 billion fund dried up just days after businesses could apply for the grant, and Republicans have been pushing to continue replenishing the account.
Trump has also signaled that he will not sign any new sweeping coronavirus package unless it includes payroll tax cuts – a stipulation even Republicans in Congress say they are not on board with.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon that the payroll tax cut isn't 'necessarily a condition' for the president.
'I won't get ahead of the president in negotiating, but – and I certainly won't condition any future legislation on a certain proposal. But I will say that the president has noted a payroll tax is something that he's looked at, not conditioning it on that, but noting that it's something he desires to see. And it's smart policy,' she told reporters gathered in the James. S. Brady briefing room.
'Every worker in America would get a substantial pay raise,' she asserted in arguing for the outcome of the payroll tax cut, adding that it's a 'regressive structure,' meaning the 'lowest wage workers are, in fact, that one's who would be most help.'
Lower wage earners pay more payroll tax than they do income tax.
'So that's something the president's mentioned – not necessarily a condition,' Trump's former 2020 campaign communications aide continued. 'I won't negotiate here with Speaker Pelosi. But I encourage her to work with the president and help these low income individuals get this tax cut they deserve.'  
Pelosi claims, despite the potential for confrontation over the bill, that this is another piece of bipartisan legislation.
'House Republicans sound like they oppose this bill. The Senate Republicans oppose this bill,' CNN's Jake Tapper said when Pelosi asserted it's bipartisan. 'The White House, it doesn't sound like they're supporting this bill. That sounds partisan to me. Am I wrong?'
'Well, it may be partisan on their part, but it's not partisan on our part to meet the needs of the American people,' Pelosi asserted.
The new package, the fifth since March, is expected to carry another eye-popping price tag of more than $3 trillion as President Trump has already signed into law nearly $3 trillion in aid approved by Congress.
Its centerpiece, nearly one-third of the bill's total price tag, will be money to states and cities that are struggling to avoid layoffs in the face of skyrocketing health care costs and plummeting tax receipts during the economic shutdown.
There will be money for virus testing and another round of direct cash payments and unemployment benefits for Americans, Pelosi said. She has not disclosed the cost. 
As states weigh the health risks of re-opening, McConnell said the nation needs to 'regroup and find a more sustainable middle ground between total lockdown and total normalcy.'
The Republican leader on Tuesday called the emerging Democratic bill a 'big laundry list of pet priorities.'
On a conference call with House colleagues Monday, Pelosi urged Democrats to 'go big,' according to person unauthorized to discuss the private caucus call and granted anonymity.
'To those who would suggest a pause, I would say the hunger doesn´t take a pause, the rent doesn't take a pause,' Pelosi said late Monday on MSNBC. 'We have a big need. It´s monumental.'
One provision holding up the package is how best to funnel direct cash to households. A proposal from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, could be crucial to winning votes from the more liberal lawmakers. It would provide three-months of guaranteed paychecks for those making less than $100,000 a year.
Massive lines: all over the country people continue to queue to receive food from food banks and places that accept food stamps. The HEROS Act will allocate $10 billion to help with the increased demand for food assistance through SNAP
Massive lines: all over the country people continue to queue to receive food from food banks and places that accept food stamps. The HEROS Act will allocate $10 billion to help with the increased demand for food assistance through SNAP
Chuck Schumer supports new House proposal for coronavirus relief
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Hoyer said the Jayapal proposal remains 'under consideration.'
With the Capitol still partly closed, Hoyer, D-Md., told lawmakers on the call there would be 72-hour notice before returning to Washington for the vote, which could come Friday, the person said.
But Senate Republicans are in no rush to spend what could be trillions more on aid.
'I don't think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately,' McConnell told reporters Monday at the Capitol. 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed back on McConnell's claims of waiting out a new coronavirus package, warning that if they 'slow walk' more aid they will be repeating President Herbert Hoover´s 'tepid' response to the Great Depression.
'The American people need their government to act strongly, boldly and wisely, and this new legislation is just what this crisis demands,' Schumer said in a statement Tuesday.
'Senator McConnell and Senate Republicans ought to heed the lessons of U.S. history and not repeat the mistakes made by President Hoover that helped lead to the Great Depression,' he continued.
'Despite Senator McConnell's recent statement that he feels no urgency to act immediately, tens of millions of American families and workers struggling to put food on the table, afford rent, and provide for their children need help from the federal government and we must deliver it fast.'
McConnell said he has been in close contact with the White House, assessing the aid Congress has already approved in response to the virus outbreak and next steps.
Trump is expected to meet Tuesday with a group of Senate Republicans. 'If we decide to go forward, we´ll go forward together,' McConnell said. His priority is to ensure any new package includes liability protections for health care providers and businesses that are reopening.
Senate Republicans are not expected to act on any further aid until after the Memorial Day recess, according to a senior Republican aide unauthorized to discuss the planning and granted anonymity.
The Senate is set to recess at the end of next week for a previously scheduled break, with senators scheduled to return June 1.
The Senate recently reopened its side of the Capitol while the House remains largely shuttered due to health concerns.
Senators have been in session since last week, voting on Trump's nominees for judicial and executive branch positions and other issues. The Senate majority, the 53-member Senate Republican conference, is meeting for its regular luncheons most days, including Tuesday, spread out three to a table for social distance. Democrats are convening by phone. Many senators, but not all, are wearing masks.
At least a dozen Capitol police officers and other staff have tested positive for the virus, and at least one senator, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, is in isolation at home after exposure from a staff member who tested positive. Other lawmakers have cycled in and out of quarantine.
From home, Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, convened a high-profile hearing Tuesday with Dr. Anthony Fauci and others, on the virus.

Alexander told colleagues that ensuring adequate testing will the key to re-opening the economy and schools.
Nancy Pelosi unveils Democrats' new $3 TRILLION coronavirus aid package with up to $6,000 direct cash for every household - setting up clash with Trump and Republicans Nancy Pelosi unveils Democrats' new $3 TRILLION coronavirus aid package with up to $6,000 direct cash for every household - setting up clash with Trump and Republicans Reviewed by CUZZ BLUE on May 13, 2020 Rating: 5

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