Trump calls House Democrats’ $3T coronavirus bill ‘dead on arrival’

President Trump on Wednesday declared House Democrats’ $3 trillion House coronavirus bill “dead on arrival,” arguing it was packed with unrelated priorities.

“It’s, as they say, D.O.A. Dead on arrival,” Trump said during a meeting with the governors of Colorado and North Dakota.

“Of course Nancy Pelosi knows that,” he added.

The president complained that the legislation was essentially a “voting package” that would expand access to mail-in ballots. Trump bemoaned that it would disadvantage Republicans in future elections if passed into law.

“They want to be able to make sure that Republicans can’t win an election by putting in all sorts of mail-in ballots,” he said.

House Democrats on Tuesday rolled out their proposal for a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package. The bill, which is unlikely to garner any Republican support in either chamber of Congress, that includes various Democratic priorities and is intended to put pressure on Republicans to start negotiations on help for workers and local governments.

It features a number of provisions championed by liberals, including funding for food assistance and state and local governments, which have been pleading for help during the pandemic.

It also includes another round of direct stimulus payments to individuals, hazard pay for essential workers on the front lines of the pandemic and money to help allow voters to mail in ballots for the November elections.

Democrats have pushed for expanded ballot access ahead of the November election in the event the pandemic makes in-person voting difficult or dangerous.