President Joe Biden has assured House Democrats that he is committed to his COVID-19 relief package in its current form and that, despite his “cordial” meeting with Senate Republicans Monday night, “the idea that we will go out and the commitment and go from a trillion nine to six hundred billion is not on the cards ”.
Biden’s statements, made in a call with House Democrats on Wednesday morning, the recording of which was obtained by The Daily Beast, are the surest indication that he plans to push for approval of the “American Rescue Plan.” its $ 1.9 trillion aid package. to address the coronavirus pandemic and the damage it has caused to the country’s economy, through the process of budget reconciliation. This process, which allows the Senate to pass budget-related legislation with a simple majority, will evade Republican attempts to counter the relief plan.
“We have to keep up,” Biden said in the call. “I think that’s what American people expect of us, and frankly, that’s what they have a right to expect. And that’s why I asked for the proposed package “.
Biden made a special exception to the Republican proposal on direct payments to cashless Americans. Under his plan, direct payments would start at $ 1,400 per person, as well as for dependents, and will be phased out for people with a gross income of more than $ 75,000. Under the Republican plan, these payments would be reduced to a maximum of $ 1,000, being phased out for people earning more than $ 40,000 in taxable income, with a $ 50,000 limit.
The president said the proposal would leave out almost the entire middle class, which he called a non-beginner.
“Who we help is as important as who is being left out,” Biden said during the call. “I don’t think we have to take care of helping those people who earn three hundred million a year, but a family that makes 60, 70 or maybe 80, that barely hangs middle class people? “
“We want to make sure we get the poor,” Biden continued, “but we can’t leave out the middle class.”
Republicans most often use the adjective “target” to describe a plan that would reduce direct payments from $ 1,400 to $ 1,000 per person, gradually eliminating people who earned more than $ 40,000 in taxable income. in 2019 with a $ 50,000 limit. Democrats have yet to outline a revenue bracket where they would limit the eligibility of the check, but it is likely to be more in line with the $ 75,000 CARES Act threshold and the administration aims to expand the eligibility for dependent adults. Given their belief that the last round of checks worked well, many Democrats see no problem getting more money into the economy, especially with the relatively insignificant dollar difference between a “targeted” plan and what they can propose.
President’s private assurances that cut more than $ 1 trillion in his COVID relief bill, particularly cuts to direct payments to Americans and attendance at schools to reopen their doors , “is not on the cards,” as Capitol Hill Democrats have been preparing to approve the relief plan with minimal Republican support.
Democrats, who owe their meager majority in the Senate, to victories in Georgia’s second-round election, in which $ 2,000 stimulus checks played a key role, have already launched the reconciliation process. . On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) invoked the memory of the onset of the Great Recession as a time when Congress was “too shy and constrained” in its response, a line that centrist Senator Joe Manchin (DW). V.) was echoed Tuesday morning.
“If it’s $ 1.9 trillion, so be it,” Manchin told MSNBC Joe in the morning, stressing that while he wants the process to be bipartisan, he will not prevent the relief he needs. “If it is a little smaller than that and we find a specific need, then this will be what we will be. I want him to be bipartisan. ”