Republican leaders in both chambers are maneuvering to keep all of their members in line against Covid-19’s $ 1.9 trillion relief plan, a move that would deny President Biden a bipartisan victory and could ruin the bill. Senate law if any Democrats gave up.
But the move poses a political risk for Republicans, with polls showing a clear majority of Americans supporting an emergency rescue package and the economy still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Therefore, Republicans now plan to start an urgent public relations campaign to argue that the bill is bloated, misdirected and contains a hodgepodge of measures designed to please the Democratic base – a message that party leaders discussed with their members over lunch. private party on Tuesday and that they plan to echo in the coming days, participants say.
“If Democrats continue on the path they are on and don’t try to get Republican suggestions or ideas, it will be difficult for any of our members, even those who may be inclined to do so, vote for it, vote for anything,” he said. Senate Minority Whip, John Thune, to CNN. “So, if it’s in its current shape, it’s hard to see many, if any, Republicans defending it, especially given the way the Democrats approached it.”
At lunch on Tuesday, Republican senators spoke at length about the Democrats’ bill, with participants coming out to criticize it in sharp terms. They discussed their strategy to put Democrats in a difficult political situation when the vote on the amendments takes place next week in the Senate, while also presenting some intermediate amendments that may attract some Democratic support, according to the participants.
And then, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, criticized the Democrats’ plan as “totally partisan”, while acknowledging that his party had work to do in its message in the face of public support for Biden’s plan.
“I’m sure everyone would love to receive a check,” said McConnell, referring to checks up to $ 1,400 for certain individuals in the proposal. “But they still haven’t learned what else is in it and part of our job as a substantial minority, remember that we are in a 50-50 Senate here, is to make sure that the American people fully understand what is being proposed.”
Democrats, however, argue that they have a mandate after winning the White House and the Senate and are urgently taking the necessary steps to provide aid to an American public that suffers from the devastating impact of the ongoing pandemic. They insisted that they are willing to work with Republicans, but they will not dilute the plan – a lesson they say they learned from the first stimulus plan of then President Barack Obama in 2009.
CNN’s Olanma Mang, Ted Barrett and Lauren Fox contributed reporting to this post.