GOP senators are 'getting the heat' after McConnell punts on COVID relief package: report

President Donald Trump circumvented Congress by signing executive orders that offered a limited extension of enhanced unemployment benefits -- but that may not be enough for some vulnerable incumbent Republicans who are in tough re-election battles.

NBC News reports that "Republican Senate incumbents are getting the heat" after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) decided to punt on negotiating with House Democrats over an economic relief package for Americans who have lost their jobs or are facing evictions during a pandemic that has killed more than 163,000 Americans.

Democratic challengers have been hammering the GOP incumbents for their inaction during the worst economic crisis in a decade and the worst public health crisis in a century.

Even one Democratic aide who spoke with NBC said they were bewildered why Trump doesn't want to pump more money into the economy heading into a crucial stretch of the 2020 election.

"The most significant thing Trump could to aid his re-election is to pump over $3 trillion into the economy over the next three months," they said. "The fact that we won’t do it when Democrats are ready to give it him is mind boggling."

And Democratic strategist Jonathan Kott tells NBC that the GOP will have "a really hard time defending Donald Trump’s bullsh*t executive orders when their constituents are being evicted and struggling to pay their bills after he cut the unemployment benefits."