Democratic lawmakers and the White House rejected a Republican proposal to split the $ 1.9 trillion bailout plan into smaller tranches. Lawmakers seemed willing to approve by a majority the huge package of financial aid and against the virus without the input of the opposition.
Despite calls for the unity of President Joe Biden, Democrats said that given the persistence of high unemployment and the poor state of the economy, they are unwilling to beg for Republican support that may not materialize. if. Nor do they want to limit the size and scope of a package that, they say, will provide the funds needed to distribute vaccines, reopen schools and send money to homes and businesses.
Biden has appealed directly to lawmakers from both parties while emphasizing the priority of moving forward. “We have a lot to do and the first thing we need to do is approve this VOCID package,” Biden told the Oval Office on Thursday.
The confrontation over Biden’s first legislative priority has turned the new bailout plan into a political test: for the new government, for Democratic control of Congress, and for the role of Republicans in a post-Trump political landscape.
The success would give Biden a major political milestone in the first 100 days in office, by releasing $ 400 billion to expand vaccinations and reopen schools, direct payments of $ 1,400 to households and other priorities, such as gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. Failure would be a major setback in the beginning of his presidency.
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Democratic lawmakers and senators are operating with the awareness that time is running out. Senate Majority Bloc leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are laying the groundwork for forcing approval from perhaps next week.
They are working on a bill that would begin the process of approving the 51-vote simple-majority bailout package in the Senate instead of the usual 60-vote threshold for passing a law. The aim would be to approve it before unemployment benefits, housing assistance and other similar provisions expire in March.
Schumer said he was inspired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s advice to “act big” to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis.
“Everywhere you look, alarm bells are ringing,” Schumer said on the premises.
Republican senators warned their colleagues in a bipartisan group in a “frank” conversation that Biden and Democrats are wrong to fill the aid package with other priorities and approve it by force without their support. , according to a person aware of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is a private session.