Senate reconvenes to discuss coronavirus, protests

June 1, 2020 Michael US 0

FILE – In this Tuesday, May 19, 2020, file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, wears a face mask to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as he walks to the Senate chamber after meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:14 AM PT — Monday, June 1, 2020

The Senate is returning to Washington, D.C. amid nationwide protests and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The upper chamber will reportedly be reconvening on Capitol Hill Monday.

Lawmakers will have much to cover as attention is being brought to the issue of police brutality and Congress still has not decided on a potential fifth coronavirus relief bill.

Republicans senators such as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have condemned the violence deployed by police as well as rioters in recent days. Some Democrats have proposed law enforcement reform and argue coming to a united legislative front is key to solving the issues brought forward by the protests.

“This is not like we don’t know what to do, it’s that we have not manifested a collective will to to get it done,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). “We come from a nation that it seems to take these spasms of protest and discord to get people who are comfortable on the sidelines witnessing history…to get them on to the field and begin to make history.”

Our city, our state, and our country have to pull together. My full statement on the protests and riots in Louisville and across the country: https://t.co/rFOyjC3AHf

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) May 29, 2020

Meanwhile, Republicans have largely maintained a focus on probes of Obama-era officials and reforms to the Paycheck Protection Program.

Currently, Congress is nowhere near a deal on the next COVID-19 relief package, but McConnell predicts a decision on whether to move forward will be made this month. The majority leader said the next piece of coronavirus relief legislation will be the final one.