Washington – Cedric Richmond, a senior White House adviser, said Sunday that President Biden is willing to sit down with a group of Republican senators requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a bipartisan coronavirus emergency relief bill.
“The president said in his inaugural address that he wanted to work with both parties to help the American people,” Richmond said in an interview with “Face the Nation.” What we do know about President Biden is that he never deals with him, but always with the people. So yes, he is very willing to meet with anyone to advance the agenda. “
A group of ten Republican senators sent a letter to Mr Biden on Sunday asking him to meet with him to discuss a bipartisan coronavirus relief framework, details of which are expected to be unveiled on Monday. According to senators, the plan includes $ 160 billion for vaccine development and distribution, testing and contact tracking, and production of personal protective equipment. It also includes $ 4 billion for behavioral health and substance abuse services, as well as financial aid to the unemployed Americans and another round of direct payments to people earning up to $ 50,000 a year.
The president has presented his $ 1.9 trillion relief package, which is the highest legislative priority of the White House. But with the Senate evenly divided between parties, ten Republicans would have to join Democrats to support the move to go through the regular legislative process. GOP senators are refuting the cost of Mr. Biden’s plan, as well as the inclusion of provisions such as raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour.
Democratic leaders in Congress are taking the first steps this week to pursue a maneuver called budget reconciliation, which would allow Mr. Biden’s plan to pass without Republican support.
Richmond said the president’s proposal includes provisions that have the support of most Americans, including $ 1,400 in direct payments to individuals, aid to small businesses and money to reopen schools.
“These are serious purposes, it’s about meeting the moment, and this crisis is huge and our response to it responds to that challenge,” he said. “When you start talking about $ 1,400 to individuals, $ 160 million more to be able to open schools safely, a couple hundred million dollars to make sure we help small businesses that are in trouble, that’s what they want see the Americans “.
Richmond would not say whether Mr Biden would be willing to leave measures in his package, such as a minimum wage increase, and hold independent votes on those provisions, saying “we will not negotiate on television”. But he noted that the federal minimum wage has increased in past crises in both Republican and Democratic administrations.
“Other people want to discuss the process. We want to argue the purpose of moving this country forward,” he said. “And President Biden is very clear about that and he said it at his inauguration: we face deep challenges and we will meet the moment and we will not leave anyone behind.”
Prior to joining the White House, Richmond was a member of the Louisiana Congress and was among lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 during the violent riots of a pro-Trump crowd. Following the assault on the Capitol, lawmakers have been given the green light to use Congressional diets for additional security measures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that “the enemy is inside the House of Representatives,” a reference to some Republicans who have expressed a desire to bring weapons to the House floor or have tried to do so. ho.
Reflecting on his passage through Congress, Richmond said he believed the political landscape had changed.
“I think we’re in a different state than we’ve been before, members who don’t want to face reality, members who are fostering conspiracy theories and things like that,” he said. “But the real thing, the enemy inside is the dysfunction of the Republican party, which is not willing to face the facts and does not want to put the people of America first.”
Richmond said the challenge for Congress is to “bring people together.”
“That means Republicans are leaving the division that has defined them for the past two years under the former president and coming to the table,” he said. “All we ask is that those people who are out there busting their backs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads and clothes on their son’s backs, come and help them. And we leave the theories of the conspiracy. stop arguing about election fraud that we know never existed. So the enemy there is the inability of the people to acknowledge the facts and come together to help the American people. “