Both chambers of the U.S. Congress will convene on May 4 to begin working on the government’s fifth bill this year to address the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives said.
“If it is essential for doctors, nurses, health care workers, truck drivers, grocery store workers, and other brave Americans to keep carefully manning their duty stations, then it is essential for senators to carefully man ours and support them,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a tweet.
Following McConnell’s announcement that the Senate would convene on May 4, House majority leader Steny Hoyer said the Democrat-controlled House would do the same.
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The latest stimulus package has already been beset by partisan divides as Democrats seek government funds for state and local authorities, while McConnell has accused Democratic governors of financial mismanagement prior to the pandemic.
“Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as for example) and cities, in all cases Democrat-run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help?,” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday.
Hoyer said on Monday that Trump is “leaving states to fend for themselves.”
The U.S. Congress has passed an unprecedented amount of stimulus funding – nearing 3 trillion dollars – with many Americans already obtaining direct payments of 1,200 dollars.
The latest 484-billion-dollar stimulus, passed in late March, aimed at aiding small businesses and hospitals, and provided new funding for coronavirus testing capacities.