Axios reported Sunday that the frustration among Senate Republicans reached a whole new level of turmoil this week after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told members they could leave for the August Recess without passing a new coronavirus stimulus bill.
"Multiple GOP Hill aides involved in the stimulus negotiations tell me they feel Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have undermined the legislative process," said the report.
For example, the White House zeroed out funding for testing and wanted to funnel it into paying for a new FBI headquarters.
Mnuchin is under fire because he has been willing to deal with House Democrats, while Republicans in the Senate refuse to do so.
"He's also been given vast powers under the CARES Act on how the implementation is done," the report said, citing a GOP staffer.
"He can make a lot of decisions unilaterally, and that has added to the skepticism on the Hill," the staffer said.
Democrats passed a bill in May and have been calling on the GOP-led Senate to pass the bill before the unemployment payments ran out and evictions and foreclosures got too serious. July was the third month in a row where over 30 percent of Americans weren't able to pay their rent or mortgages on time or at all. Some are suggesting a serious housing crisis is on the horizon if Washington does nothing.
"Republican leaders privately admit that if negotiations are a failure, the White House and Republicans will take the political hit since they're running the show," said Axios.