When I came to Congress, I knew I had a responsibility to pull back the curtain for the American people and expose corruption in real time. So, I’m filling you in on Senator McConnell’s attempts over the last 8 days to tank a *bipartisan* COVID relief bill. (THREAD)
You may have heard that Democrats and Republicans have agreed upon spending $900 billion to fund another round of small business loans, support hospitals and essential workers, and help the 10 million people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. (2/5)
Everyone at the negotiating table—including Senate Rs—has agreed to a compromise. Except one. Mitch McConnell is refusing to bring it to the floor unless it wipes away all COVID-related lawsuits filed that “allege injury or death” due to corporate negligence. (3/5)
These lawsuits represent the worst of the worst examples of disregard for human life—cases filed on behalf of nursing home patients and grocery store workers who died because the company in charge of keeping them safe prioritized cutting costs over protecting them. (4/5)
The same McConnell who said that President Trump is “100% within his rights” to pursue baseless lawsuits alleging election fraud is now refusing to pass urgently-needed relief unless it strips those same rights from the most vulnerable among us. This must be exposed. (5/5)

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More from @RepKatiePorter

9 Dec
We should prioritize workers, not large corporations. Yet, Mitch McConnell is fighting tooth and nail to let corporations off the hook if their workers get COVID-19 on the job, and he’s holding pandemic relief hostage at the expense of millions in the process. (1/5)
McConnell is claiming this policy is to help small businesses, but there’s already an existing legal standard to protect businesses that are acting reasonably: negligence. The Senate wants to wipe this away and let corporations off the hook for endangering workers. (2/5)
The reality is that corporate immunity would give companies the green light to put profits before people. We’ve already seen evidence of this life-threatening behavior, including right here in Orange County. (3/5)

nbclosangeles.com/on-air/employe…
Read 5 tweets
8 Dec
No matter how we look at the data—by race, by sector, by income—it's clear the burden of the pandemic is falling hardest on women. Today, our office released a report detailing how decades of progress could be erased unless we take action. (THREAD)

porter.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…
Since the start of this crisis, 22 percent of all women have left the workforce. There are several reasons for this. First of all, women—especially women of color—are overrepresented in industries that have been hit hardest by COVID-19, like food service and health care. (2/10)
Moreover, lack of support from both government and employers for balancing work and home responsibilities is pushing women out of the workforce. While men have become increasingly involved, women still typically bear the brunt of housework and childcare responsibilities. (3/10)
Read 10 tweets
4 Dec
The Paycheck Protection Program was supposed to help small businesses. Yet, new data makes it clear that absent aggressive, real time oversight, millions of taxpayer dollars went out the door to some of the largest companies and national chains. (1/5)

washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
Since April, I've been urging the Administration to disclose data on exactly which businesses were getting these forgivable loans. I introduced legislation to make this information publicly available so the American people could have confidence in the PPP *in real time*. (2/5)
The Administration resisted, and now we know why: a majority of PPP funds went to just a fraction of recipients--including Trump and Kushner properties. Meanwhile, millions are unemployed and small businesses are struggling to stay open. (3/5)

nbcnews.com/business/busin…
Read 5 tweets
2 Dec
Absent action from the Senate, key COVID relief measures are set to expire at the end of the month, including expanded unemployment assistance, an eviction moratorium, and student loan forbearance. These are critical programs that millions of families rely on. 🧵⬇️
We are facing unemployment numbers unlike anything in generations. If Congress does not act, as many as 13 million Americans—including gig workers, independent contractors, and the self-employed—will lose the aid that’s helping them make ends meet. (2/5)

nytimes.com/2020/11/11/bus…
Also expiring? A memorandum prohibiting evictions. Our country has long faced a housing affordability crisis that demands comprehensive, bold action. In the meantime, extending the memorandum is essential for reducing the spread of COVID-19. (3/5)

vox.com/21569601/evict…
Read 5 tweets
23 Nov
Last year, @HHSGov found that more than half of the federal contractors responsible for transporting lifesaving organs were failing baseline performance measures, resulting in *thousands* of potential donations falling through the cracks and countless lives lost. (1/5)
Last October, I reached out to @HHSGov and @CMSGov about the lack of oversight and reporting requirements for these contractors, known as Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs). Several weeks later, @CMSGov issued a proposed rule to hold OPOs accountable. (2/5)
But these contractors tried to fight back. They claimed @HHSGov should delay making changes until after the pandemic. This made no sense to @RepKarenBass and me, especially given the risks COVID poses to many patients in organ failure. (3/5)

pogo.org/investigation/…
Read 5 tweets
13 Nov
In March, Congress gave billions in COVID relief to the @federalreserve to help struggling businesses. The Fed pledged these taxpayer dollars would *not* bail out Wall Street banks. They went back on their word—to the tune of 2 billion dollars. So I'm calling them out. (THREAD)
The Fed explicitly stated that COVID relief funds would not help “insured depository institutions”—aka banks. That makes sense, since many of those banks have had record profits during the coronavirus pandemic. And we just bailed them out in 2008-2009. (2/5) Image
Yet, the Fed used COVID relief funding to purchase $1.3 billion of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are baskets of stocks, similar to mutual funds, and they contain billions of Wall Street's debt. (3/5)

wsj.com/articles/feder…
Read 5 tweets

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