Koch-backed group launches ads urging lawmakers to reject COVID-19 relief bill

A group backed by billionaire conservative activist Charles Koch is launching a new ad campaign in 10 states urging lawmakers to vote down President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is putting six figures behind the mail, radio and digital ad campaign targeting key swing votes such as Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), arguing that the spending bill is “packed with unnecessary spending for long-standing partisan priorities and will do nothing to end the pandemic or help the economy recover stronger.”

The group argues that there is $1 trillion that has still not been spent from previous coronavirus relief packages.

“More than a trillion in pandemic money remains unspent. So why is President Biden pushing for another $2 trillion?” one of the radio ads states. “To bail out insurance companies and reckless state governments. To double the cost of hiring workers for struggling small businesses, eliminating jobs. This isn’t targeted relief to those who need it. It’s a partisan wish list that won’t help us recover. Visit RejectBailouts.com. Tell Sen. Lisa Murkowski to side with Alaskans and reject this partisan wish list.”

The House Budget Committee advanced the bill on a party-line vote on Monday.

The bill will go before the House Rules Committee before a floor vote, which is expected on Friday or Saturday.

The $1.9 trillion package includes $1,400 stimulus checks for those making less than $75,000, $129 billion in funding to reopen schools and a plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.

Polling shows the bill is popular but Republicans have been critical of the price tag and are questioning why the minimum wage is a part of it. They’re also fuming over the decision by Democrats to advance the bill through budget reconciliation, which would allow them to pass it without GOP support in the Senate.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has said the bill is not likely to get any GOP support in the Senate, putting pressure on swing Democrats, such as Manchin.

The AFP ads will focus on Sens. Manchin, Murkowski, Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Collins, Angus King (I-Maine), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

AFP previously sent a letter to the White House and Congress urging them to move forward with a more narrowly focused bill supported by Collins.