A conservative caucus in the House will begin circulating a playbook on how Republicans plan to oppose President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, targeting “liberal goodies” hidden inside the bill, according to a report on Monday.
The three-page memo, penned by the Republican Study Committee, will be distributed later in the day to lawmakers and urges them to highlight “all the left-wing items Democrats are hoping the public won’t find about,” Fox News reported.
Rep. Jim Banks, the chairman of the RSC, said taxpayers need to be informed about what’s contained in the stimulus bill.
“The RSC is leading conservatives inside and outside the Beltway in opposition to this so-called ‘relief package.’ The more we learn about it, the worse it sounds,” Banks (R-Ind.) told Fox News.
“That’s why we’ve put together a fact sheet to educate Americans exactly how their taxpayer dollars are being spent by Democrats,” he said.
The memo points to $1,400 checks going to mixed-status families with undocumented immigrants, providing Planned Parenthood with Paycheck Protection Funds designated for small businesses, and roughly $600 billion for emergency paid leave for federal employees.
It also calls out subsidies and loan forgiveness to farmers and ranchers based on their race and ethnicity, funds going to colleges that partner with Chinese-controlled companies and Confucius Institutes, and $50 million for environmental programs in what the RSC described as “a thinly veiled kickback to leftist environmental groups.”
The memo also warns that business owners who could have a felony record, including “violent criminals,” may be eligible for PPP funding.
The House Banking Committee is expected to take up the bill on Monday with a full House vote coming as early as this week.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Republican whip, has already told the GOP conference to vote “no” on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “Payoff to Progressives Act.”
The White House unveiled the stimulus package on Friday and touted it as essential to reopening schools, providing financial aid to struggling families, assisting state and local governments, getting small businesses on a stable footing and ramping up the health-care response to the pandemic.
“We are in a race against time, and aggressive, bold action is needed before our nation is permanently scarred by the human and economic costs of inaction,” said House Budget Committee chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky.
The legislation, along with the stimulus checks, would also extend employment benefits through Aug. 29.
Biden’s plan also calls for a $15 federal minimum wage.
