The coronavirus relief bill negotiated by GOP leadership and the Trump administration, is being questioned today, by several GOP senators, because of the $1.75 billion allotted for “the design and construction of a Washington, DC headquarters facility for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is according to the text of the appropriations section of the legislation.
“I don’t know. That makes no sense to me,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters when asked about the inclusion of the funds.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of GOP leadership, argued that the funding should instead go through the annual government funding bills. “To me it’s not coronavirus related,” Barrasso said.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) added that he just didn’t “get it.” “I mean, how’s it tied to coronavirus?” he asked.
“it’s just a pressing need. Whether it’s this bill or the CR later,” said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Pressed on what it had to do with the coronavirus, Meadows said that “everybody acknowledges” that the bill’s must-pass status makes it a target for other funding. “I don’t see it standing in the way of us getting a deal,” Meadows said.
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