GOP noncommittal about vote on potential Trump-Pelosi coronavirus deal

Top Senate Republicans are noncommittal about taking up a big coronavirus deal between congressional Democrats and the administration.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are negotiating a deal between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion.

But GOP senators are giving the price tag a cool reception, underscoring the headache the administration will face if they need to win Republican support before the November election. 

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, predicted that it would be “hard” to get enough GOP support to pass a bill that would be $1.8 trillion or higher.

“My guess is the leader is going to want to see some evidence that whatever is agreed upon has Republican support to try to convince Republicans over here to be for it,” he said. 

“Their natural instinct depending on how big it is and what’s in it is probably going to be to be against it,” Thune added. 

Asked if he would advocate for a preelection vote, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), hedged, saying Republicans would need to talk about what’s in the bill.

“Depending on what’s in it, I don’t know what sort of support it would get,” Cornyn said.

The hesitancy comes as McConnell hasn’t committed to bringing any deal reached between Pelosi and Mnuchin up for a vote. 

McConnell last week appeared to pour cold water on a deal the size of what’s currently being discussed between Pelosi and Mnuchin. 

“I don’t think so. That’s where the administration is willing to go. My members think half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go,” McConnell said, asked in Kentucky about the prospect of a deal between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion. 

He added on Saturday that he would “consider” a bipartisan deal without directly addressing if it would get a vote.

Asked about the prospect on Monday, McConnell demurred.

“I think I addressed that a couple days ago,” McConnell said. 

The GOP’s hands-off stance comes as leadership faces significant pushback on how much to spend on coronavirus relief. Republicans initially introduced a $1.1 trillion package and McConnell warned that it could lose up to 20 GOP senators. It never came up for a vote. 

Fifty-two GOP senators then supported a $500 billion deal. Senate Republicans are set to vote on a bill of a similar size again this week. 

Asked if a price tag between $1.8 trillion to $2.2 trillion would be too much, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), while saying that he would want to know what’s in it, said “the answer is yes, that’s too high.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), asked if he would support giving a larger deal a vote, argued the focus should be on the bill being worked on by Senate Republicans.

“You gotta get this process going. You just can’t have the president talking to Pelosi,” Grassley said. “There’s a hundred other people involved.”