Biden, 10 GOP senators talk virus aid deal

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden met for two hours Monday evening with a group of Republican senators who have proposed a slimmed-down $618 billion coronavirus aid package that is only a fraction of the $1.9 trillion the president is seeking. Skeptical Democrats vowed to push ahead in Congress with or without GOP support.

No compromise was reached from the lengthy session, Mr. Biden’s first with lawmakers at the White House. But the Republicans said there was agreement to keep discussions going over their smaller, more targeted package that would do away with Democratic priorities but might win GOP support and appeal to Mr. Biden’s hopes to unify the country.

“All of us are concerned about struggling families, teetering small businesses and an overwhelmed health care system,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a leader of the effort, flanked by the other GOP senators outside the White House.

She called it a “frank and very useful” conversation, noting that the president also filled in some details on his proposal.

The two sides are still far apart. Republicans focused primarily on health care, tapping into bipartisan urgency to shore up vaccine distribution and expand virus testing with $160 billion in aid — similar to what Mr. Biden has proposed.

From there, the two plans drastically diverge.

With less economic aid, the GOP’s $1,000 direct payments would go to fewer households than the $1,400 Mr. Biden has proposed, and the Republicans offer only a fraction of what he wants to reopen schools. They also would give nothing to states — money that Democrats argue is just as important, with $350 billion in Mr. Biden’s plan to keep police, fire and other critical workers on the job.

And gone in the GOP proposal are Democratic priorities, such as a gradual lifting of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Wary Democrats pushed ahead at the Capitol despite the high-profile White House talks, unwilling to take too much time courting GOP support that may not materialize or delivering too meager a package that they believe doesn’t address the scope of the nation’s pandemic crisis and economic problems.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that history is filled with “the costs of small thinking.”

House and Senate Democrats released a separate budget resolution Monday, a first step laying the groundwork for approving Mr. Biden’s package with a “budget reconciliation” process that won’t depend on GOP support for passage.

“The cost of inaction is high and growing, and the time for decisive action is now,” Mr. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

The goal is for approval of COVID-19 relief by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires.

The overture from the coalition of 10 GOP senators is an attempt to show that at least some in the Republican ranks want to work with Mr. Biden’s administration rather than simply operating as the opposition in the minority in Congress.

But in echoes of the 2009 financial crisis, Democrats are warning against crafting too small a package, as they believe happened as the Obama administration tried to pull the nation toward recovery.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there is “obviously a big gap” between the $1.9 trillion package Mr. Biden has proposed and the $618 billion GOP counteroffer.

Ms. Psaki said Monday that the meeting with Republican lawmakers would be an “exchange of ideas” but that Mr. Biden would reiterate his stance that “the risk is not that it is too big, this package — the risk is that it is too small.”

In addition to Ms. Collins, the other senators who met with Mr. Biden were: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Rob Portman of Ohio, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota joined by phone.

The cornerstone of their plan is $160 billion for vaccine distribution, a “massive expansion” of testing, and protective gear and funds for rural hospitals, according to a draft.

Other elements of the package are similar to Mr. Biden’s plan but at far lesser amounts, with $20 billion to reopen schools compared to $170 billion. The Republicans offer $40 billion for Paycheck Protection Program business aid.

Under the GOP proposal, $1,000 direct payments would go to individuals earning up to $40,000 a year, or $80,000 for couples. The proposal would begin to phase out the benefit after that, with no payments for individuals earning more than $50,000, or $100,000 for couples. That’s less than Mr. Biden’s proposal of $1,400 direct payments at higher income levels.

With Mr. Biden’s plan, the checks would be phased out at higher income levels; families with incomes up to $300,000 could receive at least some money.