Cedric Richmond, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, pointed out significant support for the $ 1.9 trillion government proposed COVID-19 stimulus package among Republican voters, as well as among Republican Party mayors and governors on Monday. – calling Congressional Republicans for not supporting the package.
“We have many Republican mayors, we have Republican governors, we have more than 50% of Republicans in this country – 46% of Trump supporters [backing this bill]”Richmond said during an interview with CNN.” There is only one place that we have no one signed yet and that is the United States Congress, “he added.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of 411 mayors sent a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate urging them to quickly approve Biden’s aid package. “His swift action on President Biden’s plan is a crucial step in making significant progress in one of the most challenging times in our country’s history,” they wrote.
It is unclear what specific research data Richmond was citing in his interview, but the polls showed significant support among Republicans for Biden’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey by Quinnipiac University showed that 64 percent of Republicans approve of the $ 1,400 stimulus checks included in the package – despite Republican lawmakers trying to reduce the amount of direct payments or oppose them. However, only 37% of Republican voters said they supported Biden’s general relief plan.
While Republican lawmakers largely agreed to pass huge pandemic relief bills under former President Donald Trump, they opposed Biden’s proposed stimulus package – which includes another round of $ stimulus checks 1,400 and higher unemployment benefits, among other priorities. A group of moderate Republican senators presented a substantially smaller COVID-19 package, totaling around $ 600 billion, but was rejected by Democrats. However, several local Republican leaders have expressed support for the package, while polls suggest that many Republican voters also pass the legislation.
Richmond explained that the Biden government is still “working every day” to obtain congressional bipartisan support for the relief bill – dubbed the American bailout plan – before it is passed. But the White House adviser said Democrats would not “slow down” or “fail to meet the needs of the American people”.
Newsweek he contacted House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
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But another recent poll conducted by The Hill and Harris X showed that the majority of Republicans supported Democrats by using the budget reconciliation process to pass their legislation without the support of Republican lawmakers. About 6 out of 10 Republicans said they approve lawmakers using the legislative maneuver for the $ 1.9 trillion aid package.
Democrats resorted to the budgetary reconciliation process to pass the relief bill, as it seems unlikely that they will win the support of Republican lawmakers. In the Senate, most legislation generally requires 60 votes to pass because of the rule of legislative obstruction. With an equally divided Senate – 50 to 50 – Democrats are unlikely to convince 10 Republicans to vote to approve the package. But Democrats can pass the legislation with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaker vote, in her role as Senate President, through budgetary reconciliation.