Joe Biden Stimulation Plan Can Only Be Democratic Despite a Hearty IDP Meeting

Photographer: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have indicated they intend to pass a major bill on pandemic, possibly without Republican support, even after a White House meeting with GOP senators describing both parties as productive.

While the ten senators who took part described the meeting as “excellent” with “a very productive exchange of views” in a joint statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden emphasized that Congress was urgent and “bold” had to act and pointed out many areas of disagreement with the Republicans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, have tabled a budget resolution, the first step in using a procedure called ‘budget reconciliation’, which covers much of Biden’s $ 1.9 billion stimulus would make the Senate pass with only 51 votes.

Biden and the ten Republicans agreed that their helpers would continue to negotiate a dual emergency relief plan. The legislation is the president’s top priority, and giving in to a GOP proposal that is one – third the size will see his supporters on the left as a defeat.

While Biden is “hopeful” that what he calls the U.S. rescue plan “can succeed with dual support, a reconciliation package is a way to achieve it,” Psaki said. With reconciliation, Democrats could possibly pass the bill in the Senate with only their 50 votes plus that of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Earlier: Republican Stimulus challenges Biden to split aid bill

Nevertheless, Maine Senator Susan Collins called the two-hour White House meeting “useful” and that Biden gave parts of his $ 1.9 trillion plan a more in-depth explanation and that the ten Republicans set out their counter-proposal.

‘I would not say that we came together on a package tonight. “Nobody expected that,” she told reporters. Still, the two parties agreed to pay tribute to continuing talks, she added.

The president clearly charmed his guests. The Republicans were the first legislators known to have met with him in the White House since his inauguration on January 20th.

‘I was the first person to talk about a specific issue. I said, ‘Mr. “President, I do not want to appear rude,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, in an interview. “He said, ‘Listen, I attended all these negotiations. We have a difference of opinion on some things. We are going to agree on some things. And if we do not agree, we are not rude. ”

Cassidy added that Biden had released additional details of his proposal, including a plan to use some of the $ 50 billion he had requested for vaccinations to extend genomic tests, which could identify new and potentially more dangerous strains of the virus. .

The meeting was arranged after the Republican group presented their alternative aid plan to the White House on Sunday.

‘I bird like I’m back in the Senate, ”Biden joked with reporters, who could only observe the event for about 40 seconds before being brought out of the Oval Office.

Collins said that “we are all concerned about struggling families, small businesses’, the ‘overwhelming healthcare system’ and the accelerated vaccination of coronavirus.

Clearly, the Republican proposal – with a $ 618 billion price tag – is not enough for Democrats, who have prepared a party pressure on Capitol Hill with a plan that largely reflects Biden’s. They warned that spending too little on vaccinations, testing and support for Americans affected by the pandemic could prolong economic misery.

The Republican plan reduces the stimulus checks Biden proposes from $ 1,400 to $ 1,000 with stricter income limits, eliminates Biden’s minimum wage increase and includes only $ 20 billion for schools – compared to $ 170 billion in the White House plan. The IDP proposal also offers less generous unemployment benefits and leaves $ 350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments sought by Democrats.

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Cassidy said Republicans had asked Biden for more information about school funding in his plan, arguing that Congress had already provided nearly three times as much as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated needed to resume personal classes. . Biden agreed to try to get his fair proposal, Cassidy said.

There may be room for negotiation: the Republican plan includes $ 160 billion in spending on vaccines, testing and personal protective equipment sought by the White House, while some GOP senators attending the meeting have said they are funding state budgets that devastated by the pandemic.

Some members of Biden’s own economic team has questioned the size and scope of its stimulus test proposal, and is concerned that aid to wealthier Americans may come at the expense of other priorities. And a vote on the party line will need support from Democratic senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Cinema of Arizona, who have expressed concerns about the cost.

Democrats could still try to pass on discarded elements of the president’s proposal in a next package, and Biden is expected to outline an even bigger stimulus and infrastructure proposal by the end of the month. The president, who stressed the need for unity in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s presidency and last month’s riots at the US Capitol, indicated he was eager to work across the aisle.

If he were able to win support for his package of the ten Republicans he met, he would avoid a possible filibuster by the GOP, and would avoid the Democrats reconciliation, which could have political consequences.

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Many Democrats say former President Barack Obama squandered a legislative advantage early in his presidency by talking to Republicans who rejected stimulus and health care initiatives despite attempts to condemn their vote. And the party’s left flank – which supported progressive people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the presidential election – has long said Biden is too concerned about maintaining collegial relations with his former colleagues in the Senate and is mapping a moderate path. .

Cassidy compliments Biden’s approach to the talks and compares him to his GOP predecessor.

“Someone once said that you can see President Trump running a lot of hotels, because when you’re there he’s very gracious and he’s kind of pulling you in. Same with President Biden, but their styles are clearly different, to say, “Cassidy said. ‘So both made you bird welcome. President Biden went further in the direction ofLet’s look at the data. OK, our data may not agree, but let’s come back. ”

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