Washington – Senior White House adviser Cedric Richmond said on Sunday that President Biden is willing to sit down with a group of Republican senators who are requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a bipartisan emergency aid project for coronavirus.
“The president said in his inaugural address that he wanted to work with both sides to help the American people,” Richmond said in an interview with “Face the Nation”. What we know about President Biden is that it is never about him, but always about people. So, yes, he is very willing to meet anyone to advance the agenda. “
A group of 10 Republican senators sent a letter to Biden on Sunday requesting a meeting with him to discuss a bipartisan coronavirus relief framework, the details of which they hope to reveal on Monday. The plan, the senators said, includes $ 160 billion for developing and distributing vaccines, testing and tracking contacts and producing personal protective equipment. It also includes $ 4 billion for behavioral health services and substance abuse, as well as targeted economic aid for unemployed Americans and another round of direct payments to individuals earning up to $ 50,000 a year.
The president presented his own $ 1.9 trillion aid package, which is the White House’s top legislative priority. But with the Senate evenly divided between the parties, 10 Republicans would need to join the Democrats to support the measure so that it would go through the regular legislative process. GOP senators are refusing the cost of the Biden plan, as well as the inclusion of clauses such as an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.
Democratic leaders in Congress are taking their first steps this week to pursue a maneuver called budgetary reconciliation, which would allow Biden’s plan to pass without Republican support.
Richmond said the president’s proposal includes provisions that are supported by the majority of Americans, including $ 1,400 in direct payments to individuals, assistance to small businesses and money to reopen schools.
“It is about seriousness of purpose, it is about fulfilling the moment, and this crisis is huge and our response to it meets that challenge,” he said. “When you start talking about $ 1,400 for individuals, plus $ 160 million for us to open schools safely, a few hundred million dollars to make sure we help small businesses that are struggling, that’s what the people American wants to see. “
Richmond did not say whether Biden would be willing to withdraw measures from his package, such as an increase in the minimum wage, and hold independent votes on those provisions, saying “we will not negotiate on TV”. But he noted that the federal minimum wage had been raised in previous crises, both under the Republican and Democratic governments.
“Other people want to discuss the process. We want to discuss the purpose of moving this country forward,” he said. “And President Biden is very clear and said that in his inauguration, we face deep challenges and we will find the moment and we will not leave anyone behind.”
Prior to joining the White House, Richmond served as a congressman from Louisiana and was among lawmakers at the United States Capitol on January 6, during the violent riots of a pro-Trump crowd. Following the attack on the Capitol, lawmakers were given the green light to use their Congressional funds for additional security measures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that “the enemy is inside the House of Representatives”, a reference to some Republicans who have expressed a desire to bring weapons to the House floor or have tried to do so.
Reflecting on his time in Congress, Richmond said he believed the political landscape had changed.
“I believe we are in a different state than we have ever been, members who don’t want to face reality, members who are encouraging conspiracy theories and things like that,” he said. “But the real, the enemy inside is the dysfunction of the Republican Party, with no desire to face the facts, no desire to put the people of America first.”
Richmond said the challenge for Congress is to “bring people together”.
“This means that Republicans leave the division that defined them in the past two years under the ex-president and return to the table,” he said. “All we ask is that those people busting around to keep food on the table and a roof over their son’s head and clothes, come and join us to help them. And let’s leave the conspiracy theories. argue about electoral fraud that we know never existed. And that’s the internal enemy is people’s inability to recognize the facts and come together to help the American people. ”