Joe Biden’s stimulus plan may be exclusive to Democrats, despite the Republican Party’s cordial meeting

Photographer: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images

President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats have signaled that they intend a major pandemic relief bill, potentially without Republican support, even after a meeting in the White House with Republican senators on Monday, which both sides described as productive.

While the 10 senators who participated described the meeting as “excellent” with “a very productive exchange of views”, in a joint statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden emphasized that Congress had to act with urgency and “boldness” and pointed out many areas of disagreement with Republicans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer presented a budget resolution on Monday, the first necessary step to use a procedure called “budget reconciliation” that would allow much of the US stimulus $ 1.9 trillion from Biden passed the Senate with just 51 votes.

Biden and the ten Republicans agreed that their advisers would continue to negotiate a bipartisan aid plan. Legislation is the president’s top priority, and granting a Republican proposal one-third the size would be considered a defeat by his left-wing supporters.

Although Biden “is hopeful” that what he calls the American Rescue Plan “can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a way to achieve that,” said Psaki. Using reconciliation, Democrats could potentially pass the bill in the Senate with just 50 votes plus Vice President Kamala Harris.

Previously: Republican stimulus offer challenges Biden to split aid law

However, Senator Susan Collins of Maine called the two-hour White House meeting “useful” and that Biden had “explained in more depth” parts of his $ 1.9 trillion plan and the 10 Republicans outlined your counter proposal.

“I wouldn’t say that we came together in a package tonight. Nobody expected this, ”she told reporters. Even so, the two sides agreed that advisers continue the negotiations, she added.

The president clearly delighted his guests. Republicans were the first known lawmakers to meet him at the White House since his January 20 inauguration.

“I was the first person to speak on a specific subject. I said, ‘Mr. President, I don’t want to be rude, ”Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, said in an interview. “He said, ‘Listen, I’ve been to all these negotiations. We will have a difference of views on some things. We will agree on a few things. And when we disagree, we are not being rude. “‘

Cassidy added that Biden revealed additional details of his proposal, including a plan to use part of the $ 50 billion he asked for in vaccines to expand genomic tests, which can identify new and potentially more dangerous strains of the virus.

The meeting was organized after the Republican group presented its alternative aid plan to the White House on Sunday.

“ME to sense as if he were back in the Senate, ”joked Biden with reporters, who could only observe the meeting for about 40 seconds before being led out of the Oval Office.

Collins said that “we are all concerned about struggling families, fluctuating small businesses,” the “overburdened health care system” and the acceleration of coronavirus vaccinations.

It is clear that the Republican proposal – which is priced at $ 618 billion – is not enough for Democrats, who are preparing a party campaign on Capitol Hill with a plan that largely reflects Biden’s. They warned that spending too little on vaccines, testing and support for Americans affected by the pandemic could prolong economic problems.

The Republican plan reduces Biden’s proposed stimulus checks from $ 1,400 to $ 1,000 with stricter income limits, eliminates the increase in Biden’s minimum wage and includes only $ 20 billion for schools – compared to $ 170 billion in the White House plan. The Republican Party’s proposal also offers less generous unemployment benefits and omits $ 350 billion in emergency funds for state and local governments sought by Democrats.

Read more: Schumer, Pelosi File Budget Resolution to Use for Covid Relief

Cassidy said Republicans asked Biden for more information about school funding in his plan, arguing that Congress had already provided nearly three times more than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated it was necessary to resume face-to-face classes. Biden agreed “to try to get a justification” for his bigger proposal, said Cassidy.

There may be room for negotiation: the Republican plan includes $ 160 billion in spending on vaccines, testing and personal protective equipment requested by the White House, while some Republican Party senators attending the meeting said they could support funding for devastated state budgets by the pandemic.

Some members of Biden’s own economic team questioned the size and scope of their stimulus check proposal, fearing that assistance to wealthier Americans could come at the expense of other priorities. And a party vote would require the support of Democratic senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who expressed reservations about the cost.

Democrats can still try to approve discarded elements of the president’s proposal in a subsequent package, with Biden hoping to outline an even greater stimulus and an infrastructure proposal by the end of the month. The president, who emphasized the need for unity after Donald Trump’s presidency and last month’s riots at the United States Capitol, indicated he was looking forward to working down the hall.

If he managed to get the support of the 10 Republicans he met for his package, he would avoid possible obstruction by the Republican Party and the Democrats would be able to avoid the use of reconciliation, which can have political repercussions.

QuickTake: How the Senate strategy known as reconciliation works

Many Democrats say that former President Barack Obama wasted a legislative advantage early in his presidency by engaging with Republicans who rejected stimulus and health care initiatives despite efforts to court his vote. And the left flank of the party – which supported progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the presidential primaries – has long expressed concern that Biden is too concerned with maintaining collegial relations with his former Senate colleagues and tracing a moderate path.

Cassidy praised Biden’s approach to negotiations, comparing him favorably with his predecessor GOP.

“Someone once said that you can see that President Trump ran a lot of hotels because when you’re there, he’s very graceful and kind of attracts you. In the same way with President Biden, but clearly their styles are very different, without saying, ”said Cassidy. “So they both did you to sense welcome. President Biden was more toward, ‘Let’s look at the data. OK, our data may disagree, but we’ll get back to you. “‘

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