McConnell: Next coronavirus bill will be final COVID-19 package

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Friday that the next potential relief bill will be the final coronavirus stimulus legislation.

“We’re taking a careful look at a fourth and final bill. You can anticipate the decision being made on whether to go forward in about a month. It will be narrowly crafted,” McConnell told reporters in Kentucky.

The GOP leader’s prediction that the bill would be the final economic package comes as lawmakers are nowhere near a deal that could pass both chambers and get President Trump’s support.

The House passed legislation this week to provide more flexibility for the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, by extending the window that businesses have to use the funding.

They also passed a nearly $3 trillion bill earlier this month that, among other provisions, provided a second round of stimulus checks, had more money for state and local governments and expanded food assistance.

But Senate Republicans have declared the bill to be “dead on arrival,” and have shown few signs that they are going to quickly offer their own proposal.

While Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who is facing a difficult reelection bid, called on the Senate to stay in Washington this week to work on coronavirus legislation, several of his colleagues have pointed to the end of June or potentially the August recess as the deadline for the next bill.

McConnell added on Friday that Senate Republicans would take the lead on the next coronavirus package, even though House Democrats say they have taken the lead on the next bill by putting their package on the table for negotiations.

“If there’s another bill, and there may well be, it will be written in the Senate. It will be supported by the administration. … It will not be $3 trillion. So we’ll be discussing the issue of how much and the issue of when,” McConnell said.