Pelosi Says Democrats ‘Did Jiu-Jitsu’ on Coronavirus Relief Bill

The $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by the Senate is being described as “the art of compromise,” and Democrats say they worked hard to insert provisions to help workers more than corporations.

During her weekly press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Congressional Democrats worked hard to make it a “workers first legislation.”

“Last night, as you know, the Senate passed important legislation. We’re very proud of the product. We did jiu-jitsu on it,” Pelosi said, adding, “It went from a corporate first proposal that the Republicans put forth in the Senate to a workers first, Democratic workers first legislation.”

Watch the video below:

Democrats balked at the initial bill put forth by Republicans and called it a “corporate bailout.” In particular, they raised concerns over a $500 billion fund aimed at providing relief to businesses facing hardships because of the coronavirus.

Senate Democrats blocked the bill twice from advancing passed a procedural hurdle as they sought changes to the legislation. They argued that the bill did not provide strong enough protections for workers or strict enough regulations for businesses that receive aid from the government.