Senate Republicans failed to advance their nearly $2 trillion coronavirus response bill again on Monday. The 49-46 cloture vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to move the bill along to a final debate. While both parties expressed favor for passing an expansive bill aimed at offsetting some of the economic losses brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Democrats had objected to the GOP’s inclusion of a $500 billion fund for President Donald Trump’s administration to distribute to businesses and states with very little oversight.

Republicans framed the Democrats’ reservations as obstructionism, and mainstream news outlets were more than happy to adopt that very same viewpoint. Following Monday’s vote, The Washington Post and The New York Times both published tweets and articles that buried the reason for Democratic resistance.

The Washington Post story cited “partisan anger” in its headline announcing that Senate Democrats had rebuffed McConnell’s attempts to push the bill through.

Similarly, The New York Times tweeted the contextless line, “Senate Democrats have again blocked action on a $1.8 trillion economic stabilization package as talks continue with the Trump administration.”

In the story itself, it’s not until the ninth paragraph that the Times bothered to note why Democrats “blocked action” on the bill:

After an earlier vote failed on Sunday, CNN prominently featured Republicans’ spin on the bill, complete with an on-screen chyron reading “Senate Dems Block $2 Trillion Stimulus Plan” and an online article headlined “Senate GOP ramps up pressure on Democrats over coronavirus stimulus package with Monday vote.”

Between scant coverage of Republican senators’ insider trading scandal and a recurring failure to check the president’s lies before pushing them out to viewers, some mainstream media have a less than stellar record so far in this pandemic.