One of the Senate's top Republicans said he expected another stimulus package in response to the coronavirus crisis at the "end of July," despite the Democratic push for a new bill sooner.
"That's my sense of when we will and frankly my sense of when we'll have all the information we need to put the next bill together," Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who chairs the Senate Republican Policy Committee, said on Monday, The Hill reported.
Blunt added that "it might be about the time when all of the money from the [previous] bills has been spent," per Politico.
Other senior Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who advises Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the majority whip, also said July was the likeliest timeframe for a new stimulus bill.
Newsweek has asked Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) office for comment.
House Democrats recently passed the HEROES Act, another vast stimulus package worth $3 trillion that includes a second $1,200 check and an extension of the $600 increase to unemployment benefit, among many other measures.
But Republicans in the Senate said the Democrat-led package is a non-starter, characterizing it as a partisan wish-list and an overreach on what is necessary to help Americans through the current recession. They will work on their own proposals instead.
It is not clear if Republicans will support another stimulus check specifically following the first "economic impact payment" that started going out to Americans at the end of April.
Some were playing down the idea of a second check even before this week's surprise unemployment numbers, which saw the jobless rate decline in May, though the Bureau of Labor Statistics said errors in its data mean the actual rate is higher than the report said.
Last week, Newsweek reported that Republicans were considering an extension of the increased unemployment benefit, but at a reduced rate from the $600 boost that is currently in place until July 31. They were divided on the issue.
"I want to help people: supplement unemployment," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said at the time. "I want to keep helping cause we're not gonna have full employment."
After the House passed the HEROES Act, McConnell called for "a pause" to allow for evaluating the impact of the previous stimulus packages so to better target any subsequent relief for Americans and the economy.
In response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pointed to the deaths from the coronavirus pandemic: "We need a pause? Tell that to the virus. Is the virus taking a pause? Is hunger in America taking a pause?"
