Senator Grassley (File photo)
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says the $300 billion coronavirus relief package Senate Republicans plan to vote on this week could be a starting point for negotiations.
“Since we can agree on these items that are not part of a total package, but things that have broad bipartisan support, we feel that we ought to move ahead with them in the Senate,” Grassley says.
President Trump’s treasury secretary unveiled a $1.8 trillion pandemic relief package on October 10. That’s six times larger than the Senate GOP bill. Grassley says “going bigger and bigger” creates problems.
“I wouldn’t want to say what I would agree to or not agree to,” Grassley says. “…The total cost of it might be an issue, but you never get everything you want, so I wouldn’t want to say one way or the other until we study it in detail.”
Grassley says congress should vote now on a smaller bill than includes items of agreement rather than wait for negotiations between House Democrats and the White House to come up with a larger pandemic relief package.