Biden signs the opening to send $ 1,400 stimulus checks to a smaller group

Instead, he said he would consider targeting them differently in the previous two rounds of direct aid to Americans. Members of both political parties have wondered if the $ 1,400 payments he has proposed will go to people who do not need help.

“We can better target that number. I agree with that,” Mr Biden said, according to people.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday later that Mr. Biden was open to threshold changes for those who would be eligible for the $ 1,400 stimulus checks. “This is something that has been discussed,” he said.

Biden also said he was flexible about the overall cost of the package, which Democrats have begun to advance through Congress through a process that will allow them to get it across the party line, according to people familiar with the call. He said Democrats could make “commitments” on several programs on the proposal, one person said.

Ms Psaki said Mr Biden does not expect the final package to look exactly like what he proposed. “He knows this is part of the legislative process,” he said.

Beyond sending money to many Americans, the $ 1.9 trillion proposal would direct aid to state and local governments, provide funds to distribute Covid-19 vaccines, and increase federal unemployment benefits. The money would go to schools, daycare centers and tenants under the plan, which also seeks to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.

Republicans have found Mr. Biden’s plan too expensive and premature after Congress approved about $ 900 billion in aid in December and have criticized provisions such as raising the minimum wage unrelated to the pandemic. A proposal put forward by ten Senate Republicans would provide $ 618 billion in relief, which would revalidate Biden’s proposals on unemployment insurance and direct checks and eliminate others.

In meetings with Democrats, Mr Biden has said the GOP plan is too small to deal with the effects of the pandemic.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) Said Democrats “seem desperate to make their first act in power the same kind of massive, partisan, misdirected compensation that definitely hurt the ‘last Democratic presidency outside the door’.

Democrats are divided on who should benefit from a new round of direct payments to Americans. Earlier receipts began eliminating payments from people earning more than $ 75,000 a year and from married couples with incomes in excess of $ 150,000. The Biden administration has not yet detailed the revenue limits it would set, although some Democrats have said they want to stay within the same limits as previous efforts.

Other Democrats see the current thresholds as too generous, allowing Americans who have not been economically damaged during the pandemic to receive government aid.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday after a meeting with Mr. Biden, Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) Said: “We had a conversation about direct payments and how these could be modified. you who are oriented “. He added that Mr Biden “will not forget the middle class”.

The Republican plan would reduce the size of checks to $ 1,000 per adult and begin phasing out payments from people who earn $ 40,000 a year or more and married couples with incomes of $ 80,000 or more. A bipartisan group of senators involved in the implementation of the latest coronavirus relief bill has also debated how to target relief controls.

This week Democrats began moving forward with a process called reconciliation, which would allow them to pass the coronavirus relief bill with less than the 60 votes required for most legislation in the Senate. With the Senate split between 50 and 50 – Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties – Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote on the package in the Senate.

According to an estimate from Penn-Wharton’s budget model, in the short term, families save approximately 73% of the money they receive from direct payments if Mr. Biden’s $ 1,400 per person proposal uses the same income thresholds as previous payments. . This savings figure includes the payment of the debt.

Checks more focused on those who lost income would be more likely to be spent, the group said.

“A large portion of the people who receive checks are people who will only save it because they are not in those industries that are hurt,” said Rich Prisinzano, the group’s director of policy analysis.

Proponents of sending direct payments argue that launching a broad network will help people who may go through the cracks of other aid programs.

On Wednesday, Biden met with another group of Democratic senators in the Oval Office. After the meeting, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., NY) told reporters that this was a substantive debate and that Democrats were united in approving a major package.

“We want to do it bipartisan, but we have to be strong,” Schumer said. “We can’t lag behind, we can’t delay, we can’t dilute, because the problems this nation has and the opportunities we can offer them are so great.”

Wednesday’s meetings are the last meetings the new president has had with Capitol Hill lawmakers. He spoke Tuesday with Senate Democrats, and urged lawmakers to adopt a big package. On Monday, Biden hosted the group of ten Senate Republicans in the White House to discuss his $ 618 billion alternative plan.

—Tarini Parti and Richard Rubin contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Duehren to [email protected] and Eliza Collins to [email protected].