Senate adjourns until Monday after Democrats block McConnell’s bid to add $250 billion in small business aid

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican push to unanimously pass a bill to put $250 billion more into a loan program for small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

With only a few senators in the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to approve the measure by a unanimous vote. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., objected to the request, stalling the legislation.

Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell said he was not “talking about changing any policy language” the parties negotiated last month as part of an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency spending package. He urged Democrats not to “block emergency aid you do not even oppose just because you want something more” — tweaks to the small business aid program and more emergency funding for hospitals and states, a proposal Democratic leaders outlined Wednesday.

After Cardin rejected the measure, he called McConnell’s move to pass the funding a “political stunt.” He pushed for provisions including money for Small Business Administration disaster assistance grants so that people who do not already have a banking relationship can receive the aid.