White House holds appeal with senators for bipartisan support for Covid-19 relief program

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Sunday’s meeting, which took place as the White House pleads for bipartisan support for the $ 1.9 trillion proposal, was described as productive, according to the person, who said members wanted more details and evidence on where the money was needed most. The person said there was a desire to make sure stimulus checks target those who need them most.

Invented the US bailout, Biden saw the proposal as a top legislative priority early in his term. Brian Deese, the director of the White House National Economic Council, greeted the call with up to 16 senators – eight Democrats and eight Republicans were invited.

The White House still wants to pursue the $ 1.9 trillion package as one big package, rather than splitting it up, the person added. This means Democrats can ultimately choose to use the budget reconciliation process where they can push legislation forward with 51 votes in the Senate, because such a measure cannot be obstructed.

A separate source told CNN that the appeal was a “big” first meeting and that this bipartisan group will continue to work together, discussing a way forward for another relief program. This source said everyone agrees the number one need is to quickly produce and efficiently distribute a vaccine across the country.

The source also said the call was about an hour and 15 minutes long, with White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients and Director of Legislative Affairs Louisa Terrell also joining.

President Biden and his advisers will continue to engage and consult with bipartisan groups of lawmakers, including today, to explain why urgent action is needed to bring relief to hard-hit communities and families and more resources for those responsible. of public health so that we can increase vaccinations, ”a White House official told CNN.

–CNN reported that Biden’s stimulus proposal already faces Republican objections, and Senate Democrats have laid the groundwork to use a rare procedural tactic known as reconciliation to pass important parts of the package if Republicans block it. Their efforts.

Pressed earlier Sunday on whether the president will wait for a bipartisan deal to pass the package amid growing reports of Republican unrest, White House chief of staff Ron Klain said the administration wanted to see the proposal passed quickly, but that the commitment of both parties would not. The “enemy” of speed.

“We are talking to people,” Klain said. “I don’t think bipartisanship and speed are enemies of each other. The need is urgent.”

Deese told reporters on Friday the goal was “to reach out to members of Congress on both sides to defend the bailout and engage with them (and) understand their concerns,” a mandate from Biden himself.

Among the Republican senators invited to join the call is Utah’s Mitt Romney, who told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday about the “State of the Union” that if he wanted to “hear what the White House had to say “on his proposal, he was worried about the prospect of the United States borrowing more money” for things that may not be absolutely necessary.
White House wants Democrats to be patient in stimulus talks as Biden pushes for bipartisan path, officials say

But the senator noted that “Republicans like myself have demonstrated (that) we are open to compromise” and “demonstrated a capacity for compromise.”

Responding later on the same agenda to the Utah senator’s comments, Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, told Bash, “Well, I don’t know what the word compromise means. I know working families are living in more economic despair today than since the Great Depression. And if Republicans are prepared to work with us to address this crisis, welcome. Let’s do it. “

But Democrats, he said, cannot “wait weeks and weeks and months and months to move forward.” Sanders was not among the senators invited to the White House call, according to the CNN tally.

Sanders, the new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, has expressed support for Democrats using reconciliation to pass important parts of the back-up plan if Republicans get in the way.

“We will use reconciliation – which is 50 votes in the Senate, plus the vice president – to pass legislation that working families in this country desperately need now,” he said. , ignoring the possibility that Republicans will not support the package.

CNN’s Lauren Fox, Phil Mattingly, and Manu Raju contributed to this report.

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