WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden told Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday that he “is not married” to an absolute number in his $ 1.9 trillion COVID bailout plan. but Congress needs to “act fast” to alleviate the pandemic and the economic crisis.
Biden also said he did not want to abandon his $ 1,400 proposal for direct payments promised to Americans. But he said he is willing to “target” aid, which would mean lowering the income limit to qualify for the money.
“Look, we have a lot of people suffering in our country today,” said Biden. “We need to act. We need to act fast. “
Biden said, “I am not going to start my government by breaking a promise to the American people.”
He spoke to House Democrats and followed up with a meeting at the White House with top Senate Democrats, deepening his public commitments to lawmakers about pandemic aid and an economic recovery package. Together, they are its first legislative priority and a test of the government’s ability to work with Congress to comply.
Biden’s comments to the Democratic bench in the House were relayed by two people who asked to remain anonymous to discuss the private conference call.
As Biden tries to build bipartisan support for Republicans, he is also prepared to count on the Democratic majority in Congress to approve his main agenda item. Objecting the president’s package as excessive, Republicans proposed a $ 618 billion alternative with direct payments of less than $ 1,000 and zero aid to states and cities. But Biden criticized the Republican Party’s package as insufficient, even as it continues private talks with Republicans about potential areas of commitment.
At his meeting with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and 10 top Senate Democrats in the Oval Office, the president expressed confidence that the aid package would still win Republican Party votes and be bipartisan.
“I think we will get some Republicans,” he said at the beginning of the meeting.
With an increasing number of virus deaths and a strained economy, the goal is to have COVID-19 relief approved by March, when extra unemployment benefits and other pandemic aid measures expire. Money is at stake for the distribution of vaccines, direct payments to families, the reopening of schools and commercial aid.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president fully recognizes that the final package may look different from the one he originally proposed.
She also said that targeting $ 1,400 payments “does not mean the size of the check, but the income level of the people receiving the check.” This is under discussion, she said.
As Congressional lawmakers begin to write the details of the package, Biden is taking care to strengthen his allies and, at the same time, ensure that the final product fulfills its promise of bold relief to an abused nation.
House Democrats were told in the liaison with the president that they could be flexible in some numbers and programs, but should not back down on the size or scope of aid.
“We have to go big, not small,” Biden told Democrats. “I’ll take care of your back and you with mine.”
While the White House is pursuing a bipartisan bill, House and Senate Democrats are launching a lengthy budget process to approve Biden’s bill with or without Republican support. The vote began Tuesday in the Senate and was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in the House.
“We want to do this bipartisan, but we must be strong,” said Schumer after the 90-minute session at the White House. Democrats are “working with our Republican friends when we can.”
The quick action follows Tuesday’s release as Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined the Democratic senators for a virtual private meeting, both declaring the Republicans’ $ 618 billion offer it was too small.
Both Biden and Yellen recalled the lessons of the government’s response to the 2009 financial crisis, which some said was inadequate as conditions worsened.
Schumer said of the Republican proposal: “If we made such a small package, we would be mired in the COVID crisis for years”.
Earlier this week, Biden met with 10 Republican senators who were launching their $ 618 billion alternative and told them they will not delay aid in the hope of gaining Republican Party support even as negotiations continue.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell criticized Democrats for moving on their own, while Republican senators are trying to provide bipartisan alternatives.
“They chose a totally partisan way,” said McConnell. “This is unfortunate.”
The two sides are far apart. The cornerstone of the GOP plan is $ 160 billion for the health response – distribution of vaccines, a “massive expansion” of testing, protective equipment and money for rural hospitals, similar to what Biden proposed for specific pandemic aid .
But from there, the two plans diverge dramatically. Biden proposes $ 170 billion for schools, compared to $ 20 billion for the Republican plan. Republicans would also give nothing to states, money that Democrats say is just as important, with $ 350 billion in Biden’s plan to keep the police, firefighters and other workers at work.
Direct payments of $ 1,000 from the GOP would go to fewer people – those earning up to $ 40,000 a year or $ 80,000 for couples. Biden’s larger $ 1,400 payments would extend to higher income levels, up to $ 300,000 for some families.
Republicans offer $ 40 billion in commercial aid from the Payment Protection Program. But if the Democratic priorities were, like a gradual increase in the federal minimum wage at $ 15 an hour.
Delaware Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, both Democrats from Biden State, were at the White House on Wednesday and discussed with the president the need for state and local aid and the possibility of restricting who qualifies for another round of payments. direct.
Coons said he is talking to Republicans “on what terms they are willing to increase the amount significantly for some state and local aid”. Without it, he said, it is an “impossibility”.
Winning the support of 10 Republicans would be significant, potentially giving Biden the necessary 50-50 votes in the Senate to reach the 60-vote limit normally required to move the legislation forward. Vice President Kamala Harris is the tiebreaker.
But Democrats moved forward with Tuesday’s vote, laying the groundwork for eventual approval of the budget reconciliation process that would allow the bill to pass a 51-vote majority in the Senate.