Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), criticized the Democrats’ passage of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill championed by President Joe Biden’s administration, describing it as “one of the most shameful, costly and political moves ever made by Congress” and listing a few of the most “wasteful” items in the bill, including billions in bailouts for blue states.

“The Democrats in Congress, led by President Biden, Senator Schumer, and Speaker Pelosi, have lied to the American people,” Scott said in a scathing statement following the House’s passage of the measure.

“This is not a COVID-19 relief bill and the completely partisan approval of this massive, wasteful and untargeted $1.9 trillion ‘American Rescue Plan Act’’ is one of the most shameful, costly and political moves ever made by Congress,” he continued, describing the process as “expedited and partisan” and accusing Democrats of hiding their true agenda items in the bill, out of the sight of the American people:

In the Senate, Democrats used the budget reconciliation process, which allowed the more than 600-page bill to move to the floor for a vote before any member was even given the opportunity to read the text. The bill also received zero Senate committee references – shutting Republicans completely out of the lawmaking process. The truth is, Democrats don’t want transparency. They don’t want American families to know that this bill raises our debt to $30 TRILLION, and dedicates only 10% of its funding to fighting COVID-19 and less than 1% for vaccination efforts.

Democrats are living in a fantasy land where debt doesn’t matter, spending has no consequences, and inflation is impossible. The cost of living in America is already rising. Since President Biden took office, average gas prices are up more than $0.50 per gallon and we know that this bill’s enormous price tag will create even more inflation and be used by Democrats to raise taxes – hurting our low and fixed-income families, like mine growing up, the most. This isn’t how Congress should work. I will keep fighting against the waste in this bad bill and for fiscal responsibility and the targeted delivery of aid for families and businesses truly in need.

Scott’s release detailed a few of the Democrat agenda items embedded within the bill — the majority of which have little to nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic:

  • Stimulus checks for state and federal inmates.
  • $360 billion for state and local bailouts that predominantly benefit liberal states.
  • Nearly $1 billion for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor railway, a woefully mismanaged public railway system.
  • $645 million for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute for Library and Museum Services.
  • $570 million paid leave benefit, available exclusively for federal employees to keep their children home when public schools refuse to reopen.

House Democrats passed the measure on Wednesday in a 220-211 vote, sending it to Biden’s desk. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) joined Republicans in opposing the bill.

The bill “showers money on special interests, but spends less than nine percent on actually defeating the virus,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Wednesday.

“Now, even the Biden White House agrees: it is very liberal. They called it the ‘most progressive piece of legislation in history.’ So let’s be clear: This isn’t a rescue bill. It isn’t a relief bill,” McCarthy said.

“It’s a laundry list of leftwing priorities that predate the pandemic and do not meet the needs of American families,” he added.