President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus economic relief package is expected to cost trillions, and on Tuesday, transition officials informed the Democratic Congressional team about their priorities for the massive stimulus project, two people familiar with the plans.
Elements of the package considered by Biden to be “critical” include stimulus payments of $ 2,000 for Americans, more money for cities and states to boost their response to COVID-19 and improve the distribution of vaccines and provide more funding to schools.
Biden also wants to see another extension and increase in improved unemployment insurance payments, which were extended last month and are currently scheduled to last through mid-March.
How will Biden convince Congress to pass this bill?
The Biden White House is seeking bipartisan support for its COVID relief package, which could mean significant changes in legislation to attract more Republican support. The target was also communicated to parliamentary advisers on Tuesday.
If Biden fails to reach an agreement with Senate Republicans, this package could go through reconciliation, a process sometimes used for spending measures. Under this approach, the bill would require only a simple majority to pass and would not be subject to being blocked by an obstructionist. Most Senate bills require 60 votes to overcome an obstruction. This option would be used to pass Biden’s team structure with only Democratic votes. Once the results of the Georgia Senate elections are certified, there will be a 50-50 split between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will break any ties. With Harris as the 51st vote, Democrats will control the Senate.
President-elect Biden is due to present his proposal for relief from COVID on Thursday. A Biden transition officer on Wednesday did not respond when asked to comment.
This legislation is likely to face intense lobbying by parliamentarians and special interests, which could affect the final price.
Some elements of the legislation, such as stimulus payments of $ 2,000 for Americans, already have bipartisan support. Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida sent a letter on Tuesday pleading with Biden to include the bigger checks. The president-elect asked for $ 2,000 checks weeks ago and campaigned on the issue in Georgia ahead of the January 5 Senate election.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a 15-page letter to Biden transition officials, leading the COVID-19 response, in which she called for more oversight of the federal government’s response to the pandemic. Warren wants to see increases in data collection and reporting from places with frequent COVID-19 clusters, including assisted living centers and behavioral health clinics.
The new government has been asking for suggestions on legislation from state and local leaders. Biden officials have been in “listening mode” with several offices of governors to obtain their assessments of the federal government’s COVID-19 response. “We have a different sense of urgency than the previous government in dealing with this and they are proactive in working collaboratively with the states,” an official from a Democratic governor’s office told CBS News.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services appointed Xavier Becerra, together with Dr. Vivek Murthy, who was appointed general surgeon, and the head of the COVID Actions Task Force, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, also recently met with a a dozen religious leaders, who combined leading religious groups with tens of millions of members, to discuss the equitable federal response in communities of color.
Two meeting participants told CBS News that the group discussed using religious hospitals and clinics to increase access to and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly in places with “pharmacy deserts”. Specific plans to target Americans skeptical about the vaccine were not outlined by Biden’s team, two religious leaders told CBS News, but both said they were encouraged by the discussion.
A religious leader told CBS News that his network is planning to lobby the Biden team to expand child tax credits.