McConnell tries to push through additional $251B for small businesses
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is seeking unanimous consent to approve an additional $251B for the Paycheck Protection Program; Chad Pergram reports.
The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer in a new profile echoes a disputed claim blaming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for delaying a vote on the House’s coronavirus relief package -- even though the Washington Post was recently forced to correct a similar statement.
Mayer’s story, “How Mitch McConnell became Trump’s enabler-in-chef,” opened with a description of why the bill allegedly was delayed, with the blame falling on McConnell, R-Ky.
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“Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, could have insisted that he and his colleagues work through the weekend to hammer out an emergency aid package addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he recessed the Senate for a long weekend, and returned home to Louisville, Kentucky,” wrote Mayer, who’s had a reputation for being sympathetic to Democrats.
“Soon after he left the Capitol, Democrats in the House of Representatives settled on a preliminary rescue package, working out the details with the Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin,” Mayer added. “The Senate was urgently needed for the next steps in the process. McConnell, though, was onstage in a Louisville auditorium, joking that his opponents ‘occasionally compare me to Darth Vader.’”
McConnell actually had directed the Republican majority to pass the House coronavirus package despite what he considered flaws, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., delayed the process by seeking an amendment to require a Social Security number for those who may get aid.
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Back on March 17, Washington Post opinion writer Jennifer Rubin tried to use the same talking point about McConnell, but the paper ultimately issued a correction.
“An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delayed a vote on the House’s coronavirus relief package. The bill was delayed due to procedural issues in the House and a vote on an amendment sought by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). This version has been updated,” Rubin’s Washington Post column has since read.
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A New Yorker spokesperson later responded, “We were aware of the correction the Washington Post ran, and our account differs from theirs; we looked beyond the narrow legislative issue to the fact that the Senate was needed broadly for the 'next steps' in the rescue package process. Several senators complained at the time that Mitch McConnell recessed the Senate, because they felt work could be done. Jack Reed [Democrat from Rhode Island], for instance, made this point. That's the point our lede makes as well, and we stand by it.”
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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