McConnell shuts the door on additional relief as NC’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.3%

New polling confirms that voters want Senator Tillis to prioritize coronavirus relief over Supreme Court, and Tillis continues to trail Cal

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday closed the door on any further coronavirus relief before the election because it could “disrupt” his and Senator Tillis’ effort to ram through a Supreme Court nominee, according to a new report from the Washington Post, even as the White House and the U.S. House “inch closer” to a deal. Rather than stand up for North Carolinians, Senator Tillis is once again meekly following Mitch McConnell.

Senator Tillis choosing McConnell over the needs of North Carolinians comes as North Carolina’s unemployment rate spiked in September, and as new polling shows clear majorities of voters think McConnell and Tillis have the wrong priorities. Last month, North Carolina’s unemployment rate jumped up from 6.5% to 7.3%, twice the pre-pandemic rate. Meanwhile, two-thirds (66%) of votersnationally want Senator Tillis, McConnell, and the Senate to focus on additional COVID relief over filling the Supreme Court vacancy. (The same poll also had other bad news for Senator Tillis, finding Cal up 51% – 45%.)

On the table is “another round of $1,200 stimulus checks, more unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses, money for coronavirus testing, and support for airlines and hospitals, among other things,” yet McConell – with Senator Tillis’ backing – has now effectively shut the door for any additional relief before the election.

“North Carolina families are still in desperate need of additional relief from the federal government, yet Senator Tillis is standing behind Mitch McConnell and his cruel effort to single-handedly block much needed aid,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard. “With two weeks until election day, Senator Tillis has made his priorities crystal clear – putting his party bosses and a partisan attempt to fill a Supreme Court vacancy ahead of desperately needed aid for North Carolina families still struggling with his party’s bungled response to the coronavirus.”