Washington – Congressional Democrats are preparing to move forward with a procedure that will allow them to pass coronavirus relief legislation without any Republican vote, if lawmakers fail to draft a bipartisan agreement on a new round of federal aid.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House will bring a budget resolution to the floor next week, the first step in using the process. budget reconciliation to pass a bill. Republicans expressed concern about the price of President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion relief proposal, which means that the bill may not receive enough votes to advance in the Senate without using reconciliation.
“I hope we don’t have to, but if necessary, we will,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday about the option of using budgetary reconciliation, a move that can be used to approve the bill by a simple majority in the Senate. “We want it to always be bipartisan, but we cannot surrender.”
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Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech to the Senate floor on Thursday that the upper house “would begin the process of considering a very strong COVID relief bill” next week.
“Our preference is to make this important work bipartisan, to include contributions, ideas and reviews from our Republican colleagues or bipartisan efforts to do the same. But if our Republican colleagues decide to oppose this urgent and necessary legislation, we will have to move forward without them, “said Schumer. The White House has signaled that it is not willing to split the proposal into smaller projects, putting its hopes on reaching an agreement on a larger package.
Democrats have a small majority of 50 seats in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris having any tiebreakers, and most legislation requires 60 votes in the Senate to end the debate. Unless Democrats win the support of 10 Republicans, the proposal will not go ahead. The White House is in talks with a bipartisan group of 16 senators to formulate a deal, but even if all eight Republicans in that coalition agreed to vote on the bill, Democrats would still need two more Republican votes to reach the 60-vote limit.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters earlier this week that Democrats are working on drafting a budget resolution, which could be tabled as early as next week.
“Everyone wants to work in a bipartisan way, we expect Republicans to participate. But the fact is that this country is facing more unprecedented pandemic crises today,” Sanders told reporters on Wednesday. “We have a problem, the American people are suffering and we have to respond quickly. I hope my Republican colleagues will participate. But if not, we will go ahead.”
Budgetary reconciliation speeds up House and Senate procedures and allows certain types of legislation to move forward with a simple majority, meaning that Democrats would not need Republican votes to pass the bill.
“I certainly hope we have a bipartisan approach, but we need a substantial approach. We need this in a timely manner and I hope they will join us in this effort,” said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, one of the members of the bipartisan group with the White House. , said on Thursday. He also said that Biden has been calling Republican senators, saying that there has been “direct personal contact by the president with these Republicans in the hope that we can do this on a bipartisan basis”.
Durbin warned that there is a “very real possibility” that Congress will proceed with the budget reconciliation process if it cannot reach an agreement soon. But passing the relief proposal through budgetary reconciliation could undermine Biden’s message that he wanted to work with Republicans on a bipartisan basis by taking office and sowing distrust among Republicans against the government.
“This will send a signal to the United States, and to Republicans throughout Congress, that this president’s message of unity is rhetorical, not substance,” Republican Senator Todd Young told reporters on Thursday about the possibility of pass the proposal through budgetary reconciliation.
Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, a member of the bipartisan group of senators who met with White House chief economic adviser Brian Deese on Sunday to discuss the aid package, is increasingly concerned about the Biden government’s approach to working with Republicans to the extent.
“It is good to talk about bipartisanship, but it is much better to actually do it,” Portman told reporters on Tuesday. “If the House decides to go ahead with the reconciliation approach, which is a way of getting around the work with Republicans, I think it would not be just a big mistake at this stage in the beginning of this government, but irresponsible given what happened with the COVID- 19. “
There is a problem with using budgetary reconciliation – the legislation could be subject to what is colloquially known as the “Byrd rule”, which limits the provisions that can be included. The rule, named after the late Senator Robert Byrd, prohibits “irrelevant” provisions in reconciliation, so that only items that affect federal budget spending are included. Some of the provisions of Mr. Biden’s proposal, such as raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and implementing paid family leave, may not qualify for inclusion in the Byrd rule.
Republican Senator John Cornyn warned that breaking Byrd’s rule to allow the approval of a $ 15 minimum wage “would destroy the Senate as an institution as bad as removing the obstruction.” Eliminating legislative obstruction, a measure supported by progressives in Congress, would allow all legislation to be passed by a simple majority.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated calls on Thursday that President Biden still wants the COVID-19 relief package to be bipartisan as Democrats in Congress seek to use the procedural method as a vehicle to approve a COVID-19 relief package with a simple majority. But she said Republicans can come together through reconciliation, even if Republicans are opposed to key components of the proposal.
“Republicans can still vote for a package” if it goes through reconciliation, said Psaki.
Asked if Mr. Biden is going to sign a bill that doesn’t have Republican support, Psaki replied: Well, we didn’t get there, that’s taking us a few steps ahead of where we are now. ”
Senior officials in the Biden administration spoke to Senate Democrats on Thursday afternoon and answered questions that were “all about politics,” said one participant on the call.
There was “no discussion about the disruption”, that is, the idea of dividing the legislation into separate parts, said this participant.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the call was “excellent”, adding that the COVID-19 aid package should not be divided.
“We have to do everything together. Everything fits,” said Blumenthal. “Yes, I have zero tolerance for delays. I don’t have the patience to waste time, we need to do everything together. I think that’s the general feeling in the caucus.”
The White House threw cold water at the idea of sharing a package on Thursday.
“We don’t want to share this package. This is not a White House proposal,” said Psaki.
Ed O’Keefe, Jack Turman and Kathryn Watson contributed to the report.