House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) holds his weekly news conference in Washington, D.C., December 19, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) on Thursday told Republican lawmakers the party would oppose Democrats’ emergency aid package meant to combat the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

“The legislation that Speaker Pelosi introduced at 11pm last night — written by her staff and her staff alone — and plans to vote on just 12 hours later is not only completely partisan. It is unworkable,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter.


Republicans and Democrats disagree over certain aspects of the aid package, sponsored by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), including the specifics of a paid-leave proposal and the inclusion of tax-related provisions. The White House wants to delay tax-payment deadlines, while Democrats would like to deal with tax issues in a separate bill.

“We continue to want to work with the Speaker, but if she’s choosing to pass a partisan bill then everyone needs to face that fact and what that means,” a senior White House official told Politico.

Lawmakers are scrambling to pass the aid package on Thursday, the last day before a week-long congressional recess. With the Wuhan coronavirus spreading, lawmakers are hoping to return to their districts to help organize a response.


The aid package was written up in less than three days, catching even Democrats by surprise.


“This is about as far from regular order” as it gets, Representative Ed Perlmutter (D, Col.) told House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D., N.J.) at a meeting early Thursday morning. Perlmutter said he did not understand why the vote was being rushed through, without time for lawmakers to examine its contents fully.

The U.S. government and health system have struggled to coordinate a response to the outbreak and subsequent economic fallout. President Trump on Wednesday announced a series of measures meant to curb the outbreak, including a 30-day travel ban on foreign nationals from Europe.

However, stocks again fell sharply on Thursday morning, causing Wall Street to suspend trading for the second time in a week.

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