MO, KS Congress members unhappy with U.S. Senate COVID-19 relief bill vote

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Senators from Kansas and Missouri expressed disappointment after the U.S. Senate passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan Saturday.

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt (R) said in a statement that he voted against passing the bill because it “fails the American people.”

“This massive spending bill, and the partisan process by which it was passed, fails the American people,” Blunt said. “Last year, we worked together – Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate – to pass five bipartisan COVID-19 relief packages to fund the economic and health response to the pandemic. Instead of building on that successful pattern, Democrats rammed through a bill filled with untimely spending and misplaced priorities.”

Kansas Republican Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall also released statements saying the funding isn’t targeted at COVID-19 relief.

“Last month, I joined a group of 10 Republican senators in offering President Biden a targeted and far less expensive alternative to the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion budget plan,” Moran said. “Unfortunately, Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi chose to ignore our work, which is supported by a majority of Americans, and ram through a costly bill that has little to do with COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, Marshall said the bill would cause “Kansans to pay for Democrat pet projects.”

Marshall said he will continue to work to get people vaccinated, back to work and children back inside schools.

The bill passed today is “cheating Kansas of $400 million in state and local relief, according to Marshall.