U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R) says there are hardly any negotiations happening between Democrats and Republicans for the chamber’s version of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill that they seek to pass this week.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) is expected to bring the bill to the floor as soon as tomorrow after it was passed in the House early Saturday, including direct checks of $1,400 to many Americans, funds for vaccine distribution, and $350 billion in aid to state and local governments. A federal minimum wage increase to $15 isn’t expected to be included, after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that it didn’t meet the requirements under the budget reconciliation process. Sen. Grassley has spoken against the $15 minimum wage proposal, citing a belief of it having nothing to do with the pandemic, “There’s changes I’d like to see made but I don’t think they’re going to make them. But one of the things that irritates me, there’s a lot of things in the bill that have nothing to do with the pandemic. And one of those is the bridge between New York and Canada and the other one is a tunnel in California for mass transit and what does that have to do with the pandemic? Nothing, so there’s a lot of pork in this bill that makes plenty of reason to vote against it.”

Sources say the $1.5 million requested for the Seaway International Bridge connecting New York to Ontario that Grassley mentions was previously sought by then-President Donald Trump’s transportation department last May due to drops in toll revenue. You can hear more from Sen. Grassley in today’s Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.