GOP Representative Tom Reed told CNBC on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s last-minute opposition to the coronavirus aid package approved by Congress earlier this week is hurting struggling Americans.
The $ 900 billion bill, combined with a government funding measure, passed with a veto-right majority in both the House and Senate. But on Tuesday night, Trump attacked the package as a “disgrace” and demanded numerous changes, including making the direct payments $ 2,000 instead of $ 600.
“Raising these issues like this at the last minute is very concerning,” Reed said of “Squawk Box.” “I understand the president’s frustration … but doing people blindly and doing it at the last minute is not beneficial to me because the American people are the ones who are losing in this battle.”
Trump has not said whether he will formally veto the bill or sign it instead.
The $ 900 billion package extends an extension of the pandemic era of unemployment benefits that would otherwise end on Saturday. The provision concerns 12 million people. The government could also shut down Monday if the $ 1.4 trillion piece of legislation is not signed by then.
Trump’s criticism of the bill focused in part on the foreign aid spending included in the larger section on government funding.
Reed, a New York Republican who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said he acknowledges Trump’s concerns about foreign aid. However, he said they should not distract from the need to provide economic aid to Americans affected by the pandemic.
“The people we negotiated this $ 900 billion for are waiting for this relief,” Reed said. “People are being hired on Monday because they are waiting for the Paycheck Protection Program. Tens of thousands of people are going back to work. I beg the president, please think about those people,” he added.
On Thursday, House Democrats’ plan to unanimously pull a $ 2,000 stimulus measure backfired after facing Republican opposition. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said the chamber will return Monday to try to vote on it again, this time in a recorded vote.
“Hopefully by then the president will have already signed the bipartisan and bicameral legislation to keep the government open and provide coronavirus relief,” she said in a statement.
Minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Is also expected to propose a new temporary spending bill that would separate the State Department and foreign aid funding from the larger spending package. Democrats would likely be against that plan.
“What we should be doing is focusing on what we agree on. $ 900 billion in emergency aid … must go to the people today. We all agree on that. We’ve been working on that. found common ground, ”said Reed. “We may be able to deal with the idea of increasing controls later.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who is Reed’s co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, agreed. The New Jersey Democrat said he supports the idea of greater stimulus controls but does not want any delay in the current agreement.
“We’ve worked so hard to bring this package together and to get Democrats and Republicans on board,” Gottheimer said in the same “Squawk Box” interview. “We have to get this piece of legislation signed and then we have to add more. … but it makes no sense to blow up the whole thing and hurt people and undermine all the underlying pieces of this legislation, which is so criticism. “
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Reed and Gottheimer’s comments.