Mitt Romney gives details on proposed pandemic relief package: "We need to act"
Utah Senator Mitt Romney joined a group of bipartisan senators Monday to unveil two stimulus proposals totaling $908 billion, aimed at recovering an economy strained by the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on "CBS This Morning" Tuesday, the Republican lawmaker said the proposal was submitted to Congressional leadership for approval and that failing to pass a package before the Senate's planned upcoming recess would be a "huge mistake."
"We need to get help to the people that need it most as quickly as possible," Romney said. "We better have it by the holiday, because the day after Christmas you have millions of people who will lose unemployment benefits, so we need to act."
The proposed legislation would extend some benefits that are set to expire on December 26, such as the extension of federal unemployment payments.
Romney said the new bill would include an extra $300 per week over the next three months for people already receiving assistance, as well as other benefits that are running out.
"We also get rental assistance, food assistance, and then PPP loans for small businesses — a whole series of things that the economy really needs right now, and I'm pleased that we got that done together," he said.
The two proposals would allocate $13 billion to emergency food assistance, $16 billion toward vaccine development and research , $82 billion for education and $300B for the Small Business Administration.
Asked if they had the votes to pass the legislation, Romney said the onus was now on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
McConnell, Pelosi and other leaders will have to "decide to bring it forward, or perhaps just pick elements of it in their own legislation at the end of the year," he said.
Another change to the federal government set to happen over Christmas is the departure of Attorney General William Barr, who resigned in a letter to President Trump Monday.
Though Barr praised Mr. Trump in his letter, Romney alluded to the president's baseless accusations of voter fraud as the reason for Barr's departure.
"Bill Barr drew a line in the sand, the president stepped over it with this ongoing effort to overturn the will of the voters," he said. "Bill Barr apparently had enough."
Despite a lack of evidence of voter fraud, numerous Republican lawmakers have either backed or not vocally opposed the president's attempts to delegitimize the election.
Romney said some Republican lawmakers' decisions to stand by the president even in questionable circumstances has left the party "uncertain of the course" it will take after the current administration's departure.
"The principles that have long been the hallmark of my party are very much in question, which is do we believe in balancing the budget? Do we believe in standing up to people like Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin? Are we committed to the principle that character counts?" Romney questioned. "These are all things I think we're going to have to decide over the coming years."