Washington, D.C. – Less than one month into President Joe Biden’s Administration, Democrats are abandoning their quest for bipartisanship and unity. House Democrats confirmed this tonight by utilizing a budget procedure to expedite passage of a deficit spending bill in Congress with only 50 votes in the United States Senate. U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) released the following statement after his vote against this partisan ploy:
“Democrats are officially weaponizing a budget procedure traditionally used to cut spending to pave the way for a massive spending spree that, with interest, will add over $2 trillion to the national debt. This directly contradicts President Biden’s pledge of bringing unity and bipartisanship back to Washington.
“Instead of focusing on implementing the bipartisan CARES Act and the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill passed less than two months ago, deploying funds for vaccine distribution, re-opening schools and providing job-saving assistance to small businesses, Democrats appear committed to further burdening future generations with mountains of additional debt, despite the immediate availability of over $1 trillion in unspent funds.
“To protect hardworking taxpayers, I voted against this fiscally reckless, hyper-partisan budget resolution. But I continue to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together to fully deploy the resources already appropriated to accelerate the delivery of vaccines, reopen our schools, deliver emergency loans to small businesses and safely reopen our economy.”
A partial breakdown of the unspent COVID-19 relief funds is below:
• $280 billion in unspent Paycheck Protection Program funds
• $239 billion in unspent funds for healthcare
• $172 billion in unspent funds for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program
• $172 billion in unspent funds for expansion of unemployment insurance benefits
• $59 billion in unspent funds for education
• $58 billion in unspent funds for State and Local governments
• $58 billion in unspent food assistance programs
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