“I’m not a big fan of doing anything where the federal government affects local, state, or school governments,” Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, said Wednesday. “I want schools to reopen, but I don’t like that. I don’t like the federal government getting involved.”
As intra-party negotiations continued on Wednesday, Republican senators made it clear that there were a number of White House demands they were unlikely to accept, including the president’s demands to cut payroll taxes and withdraw funds for coronavirus testing and screening.
“I don’t think anybody is satisfied with that,” said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy when asked about the evidence in the United States, something Trump has frequently touted.
Others were more critical of the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis.
“I don’t think it was a great example for the world to see the United States,” Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said of the president’s handling of the pandemic, noting the lack of rapid and accessible evidence, as well as the shortage of equipment. personal protection. .
As the United States struggles to manage the crisis, Republicans scramble to reach consensus on their latest recovery plan, a move that is expected to cost approximately $ 1 trillion and serve as an alternative to the Democratic $ 3 trillion bill. who passed the bill. Home more than two months ago. Many Republicans, including those on re-election, are eager for another aid package to help millions of unemployed Americans and bolster the United States’ response to the crisis.
However, some conservative Republicans are appalled at the roughly $ 3 trillion that has already been spent in recent months to deal with the economic and health costs of the pandemic, and are demanding that Congress speed up the brakes before spend even more.
“I will not authorize a penny until you understand what we have done,” said Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin. “I don’t think right now, in the next three weeks, (we can) quickly rush to spend another trillion dollars in expenses. I just don’t see the need.”
As Trump has called for the country to return to business, he has loudly demanded in recent days that schools reopen entirely, even threatening to withhold federal funds if they do not.
The President cannot unilaterally cut current federal funds for schools, although Congress may withhold additional aid through the power of the portfolio, something that both the White House and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have threatened in recent days. .
“Ultimately, it is not about whether schools should reopen,” DeVos said in a briefing earlier this month. “It is simply a matter of how. They must be fully opened and fully operational. And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders.”
DeVos later said: “If schools are not to reopen and do not deliver on that promise, they should not get the funds.”
But Republican senators said Wednesday they don’t expect the policy of linking money to reopening schools to be in the Republican bill, nor do many think it’s a good idea. They said each school will have its own challenges, its own unique circumstances to deal with the pandemic and will need the help of Congress to ensure that its classrooms and facilities can operate safely. Some school districts may opt for a hybrid approach (remote learning, some face-to-face classes) and others may have to be closed if the virus continues to plague their communities.
So Republicans say there is little way to tailor federal funds to push for schools to reopen. The Republican Party is seeking to propose $ 105 billion to meet the costs of reopening schools, as Senate Democrats are asking for $ 430 billion.
In fact, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she did not believe the effort to get the money to continue with the reopening of schools “will continue.”
“There are such sensitivities across the country toward certain areas that can be more fully opened, certain areas have better facilities, and I just don’t think one size fits all,” Capito said. “I think you will end up penalizing some people who are doing the best job possible to bring as many children to school and learn again. That is what I have trouble with.”
“No,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, when asked about linking federal dollars to the reopening of schools. “I don’t want to use federal dollars to force a decision on that. However, what I do think we should do is provide the necessary funds to run the kinds of things that will open schools. And there are costs associated with that.”
Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said of the DeVos lawsuits: “I don’t think he necessarily agrees that all schools will be operational.”
CNN’s Ted Barrett, Ian Sloan, Lauren Fox, and Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.
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