During a private liaison with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, President Biden examined elements of his $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal, informing lawmakers that this is not the time to present a smaller package, said several people familiar with the conversation The Washington Post.
“President Biden spoke about the need for Congress to act boldly and quickly,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) told reporters after the call. “He was very strong in emphasizing the need for a big, bold package.”
Biden met with a group of Senate Republicans on Monday night, and they discussed his plan and his $ 618 billion counterproposal. Biden is asking for $ 465 billion in direct aid payments, $ 350 billion for unemployment insurance and $ 350 billion to help local governments, while the GOP plan offers $ 220 billion in direct payments, $ 132 billion for unemployment insurance and no money for local governments. Schumer said Biden told Democrats that he warned Republicans “that the $ 600 billion they proposed was too small”.
The president was summoned by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who also stressed the importance of a substantial aid plan. “I think it is his conviction, it is Secretary Yellen’s conviction, it is our conviction that if we made such a small package, we would be mired in the COVID crisis for years,” said Schumer.
Biden also warned against “targeting” aid, people familiar with the matter said. Post, saying that middle class Americans also need assistance, and said that a lesson was learned during the Great Recession, when Congress passed a $ 787 billion aid bill; Experts later said that the United States would have recovered faster if that figure had been higher.
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Originally published