WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The two top Republicans in the U.S. Congress vowed on Saturday to oppose Democrats’ demands to boost a proposed $250 billion bill to aid small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic by adding money for hospitals and state and local governments.
File Photo: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walks to the Senate Chamber floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. , April 9, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
The statement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy came a day after top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin planned to hold bipartisan talks on the bill next week.
“American workers are in crisis,” McConnell and McCarthy said. “This will not be Congress’s last word on COVID-19, but this crucial program needs funding now. American workers cannot be used as political hostages.”
A bipartisan group representing the nati