- Senate Democrats began the process to approve Biden’s bailout package without votes from the Republican Party.
- “We are not going to dilute, hesitate or delay because the needs of the American people are too great,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer told a news conference before the vote.
- Biden asked Democrats to grow up and said lawmakers need to learn the lessons of 2009.
- Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.
Senate Democrats took the first step to secure approval for President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout package on Tuesday, moving forward with a budget resolution in a move that could allow them to approve it without any support. republican.
It was a vote of 50 votes to 49 on the party line. Each Democratic senator supported and all Republicans were united in their opposition. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania was absent.
“We are not going to dilute, hesitate or delay because the needs of the American people are too great,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer told a news conference before the vote. “Time is essential.”
The vote starts the budgetary reconciliation process in the Senate. This would allow Democrats to approve Biden’s plan with just 51 votes, instead of the absolute 60-vote majority generally required for most projects. The resolution establishes a “vote to branch” later this week, when any senator can propose an amendment. The debate and voting can take many hours.
Biden held a private lunch with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, the day after hosting a group of Republican senators in the Oval Office to discuss his $ 618 billion counter offer.
The proposal would significantly support spending on the president’s relief priorities, reducing stimulus checks and limiting the extent of federal unemployment benefits until June. It was totally rejected by the Democrats. Schumer said Biden asked Democratic lawmakers to “act boldly and quickly”.
“He was very strong in emphasizing the need for a big, bold package,” said Schumer. “He said he told Senate Republicans that the $ 600 billion they proposed was too small.”
A source familiar with Biden’s comments told Insider that the president emphasized that there was greater danger in going too small to fight the pandemic. Biden urged lawmakers to learn the lessons of the 2009 recession, when Democrats approved an $ 830 billion stimulus package that many economists now say is insufficient to tackle the economic wreck of the financial crisis.
The person was granted anonymity because the comments were supposed to be private.
Biden is moving forward with his $ 1.9 trillion emergency spending plan. So far, there are few signs that it will modify it substantially to appease Republicans who argue that it is too big.
The plan includes provisions such as a new wave of $ 1,400 stimulus checks, $ 400 federal unemployment benefits through September, and funds for vaccine distribution and virus testing. It also sets aside significant money for state and local governments and gradually raises the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a news conference on Tuesday that the government had pledged to approve the entire proposal. She also said that while the White House was open to negotiating revenue limits on stimulus checks, the president did not intend to reduce them to the $ 1,000 presented in the Republican Party plan.
Schumer indicated that he and his office were in close communication with Biden.
“Joe Biden is totally in agreement with the use of reconciliation. I have been talking to him every day,” he said at a news conference. “Our teams have spoken to each other several times a day.”