One vote, that is how many Republicans were persuaded to support the “HEROES” Act which was narrowly passed on Friday with a 208-199 vote along party lines.

Five Democrats actually voted against the massive $3 trillion stimulus bill with New York Republican Peter King casting the lone Republican vote in favor.

Several prominent Republicans lambasted the wasteful legislation including President Trump who told reporters that the bill was “dead on arrival.” If it were to pass the Senate, the White House says the President will exercise his veto power.

The legislation would provide a $1 trillion bailout to struggling state and local governments, a move which Republicans say will disproportionately help Democrat-controlled states which have been fiscally irresponsible long before the pandemic. It would also provide $25 billion to bailout the cash-hemorrhaging U.S. postal service.

The White House released a statement on the bill writing that Speaker Pelosi is “more concerned with delivering on longstanding partisan and ideological wishlists than with enhancing the ability of our Nation to deal with the public health and economic challenges we face.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke on the bill from the Senate floor saying, “Washington Democrats have been transparent: They see this national tragedy as a ripe partisan opportunity to pass long-standing wish-list items that are completely unrelated to the crisis itself.”

Joe Biden seemed to confirm McConnell’s criticism tweeting, “From this moment of crisis, we have the opportunity to not just rebuild our economy — but transform it.”

It does appear that national Democrats are embracing the style of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel who notoriously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

President Trump and former President Obama exchanged criticisms over the weekend after Obama gave a virtual commencement address to the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) network in which he criticized his successor’s handling of the pandemic response.

Trump responded yesterday by calling Obama “grossly incompetent” and adding that his administration was “turning out to be one of the most corrupt and inompetent in U.S. history.”