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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden will join Senate Democrats for a virtual lunch on Tuesday to discuss his $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bailout as Congress puts in votes to accelerate the far-reaching aid package to final approval with or without Republican backing.
Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with senators in the closed session, both having urged lawmakers to act big in the face of the pandemic and economic crisis.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the meeting because he, too, said Congress must take bold action for “America’s long-awaited return.” He set up a procedural vote for Tuesday later in the Senate, kicking off a lengthy budget process that would allow Democrats with a slim majority to vote on Biden’s proposal on their own if Republicans object.
Swift action on next steps comes after Biden told Republican senators in a two-hour long meeting that he did not want to settle for an insufficient coronavirus aid package after presenting their proposal reduced by $ 618 billion.
No compromises were reached on the night of Monday night’s meeting, Biden’s first with White House lawmakers. The President has made it clear that he will not delay aid in hopes of gaining GOP support.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that while there were areas of agreement, “the president also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas that the Republican senators’ proposal does not address. “
She said: “He will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response and will not settle for a package that does not respond right now.”
White House officials previously cited the US Chamber of Commerce as evidence of broad support for their plan, but the country’s largest business group on Tuesday issued a letter calling for a bipartisan compromise.
“What we have seen based on what the president has proposed and what 10 Senate Republicans have proposed, there should be common ground for a bipartisan proposal that can become law,” said Neil Bradley , Executive Vice President and Director of Policy. , said in an interview.
Letter from the House said a decision by Congressional Democrats to use the budget process to pass an aid package along party lines could damage other parts of Biden’s agenda such as infrastructure, climate change and immigration review.
The two sides are far apart, with the Republican group of 10 senators mainly focusing on the health care crisis and smaller $ 1,000 direct aid to Americans, and Biden leading Democrats to a more sweeping bailout to back Americans. households, local governments and a partially closed shutter. economy.
The goal is to have COVID-19 aid approved by March, when additional unemployment aid and other pandemic aid expires, testing the ability of the new administration and Congress to deliver, with political risks of failure for all parties.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine called the meeting a “frank and very useful conversation,” noting that the president also provided some details on his proposal.
“We are all concerned about struggling families, faltering small businesses and an overwhelmed health care system,” Collins said, flanked by other senators outside the White House.
Republicans are tapping into the bipartisan emergency to improve vaccine distribution in the country and dramatically expand viral testing with $ 160 billion in aid. It’s similar to what Biden proposed. But from there, the two plans diverge radically.
The GOP’s $ 1,000 direct payments would go to fewer households than the $ 1,400 offered by Biden, and Republicans are offering only a fraction of what he wants to reopen schools.
They wouldn’t give the states anything either, money that Democrats say is just as important, with $ 350 billion in Biden’s plan to keep police, firefighters and other workers on the job. No more democratic priorities such as a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 one hour.
Cautious Democrats have pushed forward on Capitol Hill, not wanting to take too long to woo GOP support that may not come to fruition, or to deliver an undersized package that they believe falls short of the scale. the health crisis and the country’s economic problems.
House and Senate Democrats on Monday released a separate budget resolution, a step toward approving Biden’s package with a reconciliation process that would not depend on Republican support for its passage.
The acceleration of talks came as the Congressional Budget Office presented mixed economic forecasts On Monday with robust growth expected at an annual rate of 4.5% but employment rates will not return to pre-pandemic levels for several years.
Asked if Biden had shown a willingness to cut his sales by $ 1.9 trillion, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said, “He didn’t say that, nor did we say we did. are ready to get out ”of the GOP plan. He said it was “too early” to say if a deal could be reached.
An invitation for GOP senators to meet with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris came hours after lawmakers sent a letter to Biden on Sunday urging him to negotiate rather than trying to channel his relief package solely on Democratic votes.
The cornerstone of the GOP plan is $ 160 billion for the health care response – the distribution of vaccines, a “massive expansion” of testing, protective equipment and funds for rural hospitals, according to one draft. It also includes $ 20 billion to reopen schools, up from $ 170 billion in Biden’s plan. Republicans are offering $ 40 billion for trade assistance for the Paycheck Protection Program.
Under the GOP’s proposal, direct payments of $ 1,000 would go to individuals earning up to $ 40,000 per year, or $ 80,000 for couples. The proposal would begin phasing out benefits after that, with no payment for people earning over $ 50,000 or $ 100,000 for couples. That’s less than Biden’s proposal for $ 1,400 in direct payments to higher income levels, up to $ 300,000 for some households.
The meeting, while private, was Biden’s most public participation in the negotiations.
Gaining the support of 10 Republicans would be important, potentially giving Biden the necessary votes in the 50-50 Senate where Harris is the tiebreaker. Or he can push it through the budget reconciliation process, which would allow the bill to pass with a majority of 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the 60 votes typically needed to move legislation forward.
Biden relied on his decades-long resume in the Senate and as vice president to bring the parties together, but less than two weeks after starting his presidency, he showed his frustration with the pace of negotiations. as claims for unemployment benefits remain stubbornly high and the number of COVID-19-related deaths approaches 450,000 Americans.
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Associated Press editors Alan Fram, Alexandra Jaffe, Darlene Superville and Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
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