Democrats prepare to move COVID-19 relief without Republicans
GOP lawmakers have proposed a $618B package
WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden met with 10 Republican senators Monday to test the waters of bipartisanship on coronavirus relief, Democrats on Capitol Hill took the first step toward fast-tracking the administration’s $1.9 trillion proposal through a legislative procedure that wouldn’t require GOP support.
Although the Oval Office meeting, Biden’s first with lawmakers, appeared cordial, it may amount to a token demonstration by both sides — an opportunity to hear each other out rather than a negotiation to bridge the massive gulf between them.
A group of 10 moderate GOP lawmakers put forth its counterproposal Sunday, outlining a $618 billion measure that would include more limited direct relief targeted to the neediest individuals, an extension of unemployment benefits through June (under Biden’s plan, it would be extended through September) and funding for vaccine distribution, school reopenings and small business loans, albeit in smaller amounts.
Emerging from the West Wing on Monday evening after a longer-than-expected two-hour conversation, the group’s leader, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, expressed appreciation that Biden “chose to spend so much time with us” and called the meeting “excellent,” declining to offer details — or criticism — even as she acknowledged the impasse.
“I wouldn’t say we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that, but what we did agree to do is to follow up and talk further,” said Collins, the only Republican to address reporters outside the White House, before her group departed without responding to questions.
While Biden has vowed to lower the temperature in Washington and restore a greater degree of bipartisanship, he has argued in recent days that the GOP’s scaled-down proposal — one-third the size of the administration’s package — would be grossly inadequate. Confident that his policy goals align with the politics, the president appeared determined to push ahead with his American Rescue Plan, which would deliver more relief to more Americans and, unlike the Republican plan, includes funding for state and local governments and an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“While there were areas of agreement, the president also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas which the Republican senators’ proposal does not address,” said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, in a statement released after the meeting. Biden, she continued, told GOP lawmakers that “while he is hopeful that the rescue plan can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end. The president also made clear that the American Rescue Plan was carefully designed to meet the stakes of this moment, and any changes in it cannot leave the nation short of its pressing needs.”
In theory, the support of 10 Republicans would give Biden and Democrats 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and pass the legislation without having to resort to budget reconciliation, a maneuver that would enable the Democratic Senate majority to jam through much of the larger package with just 51 votes.
But Democrats appear committed to moving ahead with the larger package, determined to act with urgency and on a scale that is sufficient to overcome the multifaceted crisis, which continues to imperil public health and the economy.
Hours ahead of Biden’s meeting with Republicans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., filed a joint budget resolution, a legislative tool that opens the door to passing Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan using reconciliation.
With an evenly divided Senate, the move would allow Democrats to move forward.