Republican Senators Head Home Without COVID-19 Emergency Aid Package

March 12, 2020

In the middle of public health emergency, Republicans go home for the weekend without finishing aid package to support Georgia families and leave DC

ATLANTA — Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just took the weekend off without an emergency aid package on COVID-19.

The House emergency aid package would enact critical measures like free testing, paid emergency leave, and food assistance to help families cope with the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. But instead of working with the House to pass legislation to mitigate the worst consequences of this outbreak, Perdue and Loeffler followed the lead of their fellow Washington Republicans to leave for the weekend.

This isn’t the first time Perdue and Loeffler have put politics ahead of their responsibilities to Georgians. Both have already refused to commit to a guaranteed affordable vaccine for COVID-19 when available, nor have they disavowed the White House budget that still calls for a 15% cut to the CDC’s already strained resources. 

And neither of them will condemn an ongoing Republican-backed lawsuit that would overturn the health care law, decimating critical protections for 1.8 million Georgians with pre-existing conditions and eliminating a key fund for the CDC. Perdue even went as far as to say he “of course” supports the lawsuit.

“At a time when vulnerable Georgians need Washington to come together more than ever, Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are following Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s lead and heading back home rather than take up the House’s critical emergency aid package for the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Georgia families are counting on Congress to step up and pass crucial measures like free testing, emergency paid sick leave, and food assistance to fight this outbreak. Instead, Perdue and Loeffler are taking the weekend off.”

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