Sen. Marco Rubio: Passing next COVID-19 relief package won't be easy but we'll 'get there'

The Senate Republicans' $1 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package, titled the "HEALS Act,"  won't be easy to pass, but lawmakers will "get there," Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Tuesday.

In an interview on "Fox & Friends," the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee chairman said that Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. would likely "attack" anything Republicans presented.

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"Let’s not forget that there's an election in about two-and-a-half months, and they want to win their seats. So, we could have taken their bill and filed it and they would have said, ‘Well, it’s not good enough. We want more.’ That’s just a part of the political game," he said.

"Ultimately, look, this bill touches on a lot of bases and things that we need to do. The way the place works [is that] we can't pass a bill without Democrats supporting it as well. And, we obviously have to get it through the House -- which is controlled by the Democrats -- and it has to be signed by President Trump, who is a Republican," he added. "So, this bill’s going to have to touch a lot of things and do a lot of things."

While talks could take weeks, Rubio pointed out that the urgency of the situation would likely accelerate negotiations with his liberal counterparts.

"But, we have to do something and that's why I’m confident that we ultimately will do something that’s meaningful," he said.

HEALS stands for the package’s focus on Health, Economic Assistance, Liability protection, and Schools.

The relief legislation includes $105 billion in school funding -- more than the House offered in its proposal -- with the goal of retrofitting schools and universities with coronavirus precautions to open for on-campus learning.

Additionally, it includes a second round of stimulus checks at the same $1,200 amount as in the CARES act, along with a follow-up to the Paycheck Protection Program [PPP] to mitigate layoffs.

Federal unemployment benefits would be extended, but at an additional $200 per week rather than the $600 that the CARES Act offered. That number would run through the first week of October, at which point states are supposed to bring a more complicated program online where those who are still unemployed can collect 70 percent of their former wages.

The bill also includes $16 billion for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing; $20 billion for vaccine, therapeutic and diagnostic development; $20 billion for farmers and $30 billion to protect the military and defense industrial base from the virus.

However, Schumer blasted the legislation as “totally inadequate," criticizing the Republican plan for offering the unemployed 70 percent of their former wages.

Yet, as Democrats and Republicans squabble over politically charged bullet points, the time continues to run out for their constituents and their businesses.

"Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy asked Rubio what would appear in his new small business relief package.

"It's more targeted. It's available. It’s very similar to what we had before: 60 percent for payroll, 40 percent for other expenses. That now includes the personal protective equipment and other technologies that they need in order to comply with local COVID restrictions and so forth that cost money," Rubio explained.

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"But, it's only available to businesses that are 300 employees or smaller who have suffered a 50 percent reduction in their revenues in either the first quarter of this year or the second quarter of this year compared to the same time frame a year ago," he pointed out.

"And, we also set aside some of that money for businesses with 10 employees or less – the sort of smaller mom and pop and microbusinesses to make sure there isn’t a run on the first tranche of money and leaves them behind," the senator concluded.