Joe Biden’s stimulus plan may only be Democratic despite the cordial meeting of the Republican Party

Photographer: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images

President Joe Biden and Congress Democrats noted that they intended a major pandemic relief bill, potentially without Republican support, even after a White House meeting with U.S. senators. GOP on Monday that both parties described as productive.

While the ten senators who attended described the meeting as “excellent” with “a very productive exchange of views,” in a joint statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had stressed that Congress needed to act with urgency and “courage” and pointed to many areas of disagreement with Republicans.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday introduced a budget resolution, the first step needed to use a procedure called “budget reconciliation” that would allow much of the stimulus. of Biden, $ 1.9 trillion, would go to the Senate with just 51 votes.

Biden and the ten Republicans agreed that their aides should continue to negotiate a bipartisan relief plan. Legislation is the president’s top priority, and according to a Republican Party proposal that is one-third the size, his left-wing supporters would take them as a defeat.

While Biden “hopes” that what he calls the American Rescue Plan “can happen with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a way to achieve that end,” Psaki said. Through reconciliation, Democrats could pass the bill in the Senate with just 50 votes plus that of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Before: Republican stimulus bid challenges Biden to split aid bill

However, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine described the two-hour White House meeting as “useful” and that Biden had explained “in more depth” parts of his $ 1.9 trillion plan and the 10 Republicans outlined his counter-proposal.

“I would not say that we met in a package tonight. No one expected it, “he later told reporters. However, the two sides agreed that attendees should continue the talks, he added.

The president clearly delighted his guests. Republicans were the first known lawmakers to meet with him in the White House since his inauguration on Jan. 20.

“I was the first person to talk about a specific topic. I said, ‘Mr. President, I don’t want to sound rude, “said Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in an interview.” He said, “Listen, I’ve been in all these negotiations. We’re going to have a difference of opinion on some things. We’re going to be “I agree on some things. And when we don’t agree, we’re not rude.”

Cassidy added that Biden revealed additional details of his proposal, including a plan to use some of the $ 50 billion he has asked for vaccines to expand genomic testing, which could identify new and potentially more dangerous strains of the virus.

The meeting was organized after the Republican group presented its alternative relief plan to the White House on Sunday.

“Jo feel as if he were returning to the Senate, ”Biden joked to reporters, who were only allowed to watch the rally for about 40 seconds before leaving the Oval Office.

Collins said “we are all concerned about the plight of families, the small business disorder,” the “overflowing health care system,” and the acceleration of coronavirus vaccines.

Clearly, the $ 618 billion Republican proposal is not enough for Democrats, who have been preparing a party line on Capitol Hill with a plan that largely reflects Biden’s. They have warned that investing too little in vaccinations, testing and support for pandemic-affected Americans could prolong economic problems.

The Republican plan reduces Biden’s proposed stimulus controls from $ 1,400 to $ 1,000 with lower income limits, eliminates the Biden minimum wage increase, and includes only $ 20 billion for schools, compared to 170 billion of the White House plan. The Republican Party proposal also offers less generous unemployment benefits and omits $ 350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments requested by Democrats.

Read more: Schumer, Resolution of Pelosi File Budgets to Use for Covid Relief

Cassidy said Republicans asked Biden for more information about school funding from his plan, arguing that Congress had already provided nearly three times what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed necessary to resume face-to-face classes. Biden agreed to “try to get justification” for his broader proposal, Cassidy said.

There could be room for negotiation: the Republican plan includes $ 160 billion in spending on vaccines, tests and personal protective equipment sought by the White House, while some Republican Party senators attending the meeting have said that they could support the financing of state budgets devastated by the pandemic.

Some members of Biden’s own economic team they have questioned the size and scope of their stimulus testing proposal, worrying that assistance to richer Americans could come at the expense of other priorities. And an online party vote would require the support of Democratic senators like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, who have expressed reservations about the cost.

Democrats could still try to approve the discarded elements of the president’s proposal in a later package, and Biden was expected to outline an even bigger stimulus and infrastructure proposal by the end of the month. The president, who has stressed the need for unity after Donald Trump’s presidency and last month’s riots at the U.S. Capitol, has indicated his eagerness to work across the aisle.

If he were able to get the support of his package from the ten Republicans he has met with, he would avoid a possible Republican Party hurdle and Democrats could avoid using reconciliation, which can have political repercussions.

QuickTake: How the Senate strategy known as reconciliation works

Many Democrats say former President Barack Obama squandered a legislative advantage early in his presidency by committing to Republicans who rejected stimulus and health care initiatives despite efforts to vote his vote. And the party’s left flank, which backed progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the presidential primary, has long expressed that Biden is too concerned about maintaining collegial relations with his former Senate colleagues and plotting a moderate path.

Cassidy praised Biden’s approach to the talks, comparing him favorably to his Republican Party predecessor.

“Someone once said you can see President Trump running a lot of hotels because when you’re there, he’s very friendly and he attracts you. Just like with President Biden, but of course his styles are very different, without saying so, ”Cassidy said. “It simply came to our notice then feel Welcome. President Biden went further towards, ‘Let’s look at the data. Okay, we may not agree with our details, but we will contact you again. “

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