Biden, said two sources familiar with the call, was probing Collins, speaking freely to her and leaving the Republican with the distinct impression that he was receptive to negotiating with the Republican Party.
But the call quickly changed after the White House team agreed, with Collins and White House economic adviser Brian Deese engaging in an exchange on housing finance in the proposal – and the Republican Senate claiming that there was still money pending to be spent. .
End result: nothing in agreement, reaffirming Biden’s view that the republican approach was insufficient for the economic and public health crises in question.
But Republicans, still irritated by the lack of progress in short-lived bipartisan talks, see a president who is hampered by both the White House team and Democrats in Congress who they believe are much less interested in working with the Republican Party and seem more willing to advance their agenda without taking into account the minority party. Republicans’ argument: Biden seems willing to strike a deal, but he won’t because of pressure from people around him.
“He seemed more willing than his team to negotiate,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, who met with Biden and a group of Republican senators earlier this month.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell says this is the message that the Republican senators who negotiated with Biden also left with him.
“Our members at the meeting felt that the president seemed more interested in this than his team – or that it appears that the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate is,” said McConnell earlier this month.
White House officials rejected the idea that Biden’s advisers are preventing him from pursuing a more bipartisan approach to relieving Covid, and the president himself told Collins and other Republicans during the Oval Office meeting that his proposal was insufficient .
On Friday, Biden said during a visit to Pfizer’s Michigan facility that, although he’s open to working with Republicans to make his account “cheaper,” he’s not willing to compromise its content too much.
“What do they want me to cut? What do they want me to leave out?” he asked vigorously.
A White House official said Biden has been “consistent” in his private conversations with lawmakers about the need to “grow”, claiming that while he is “open to common ground” with Republicans “, he believes that what the group Republican submitted earlier this month is inappropriate, and he has not wavered from that view in any of the negotiations surrounding this bill. “
Democrats advancing
Democrats say they have learned very well from past mistakes, including in the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency, arguing that spending months negotiating with Republicans will ultimately lead to a policy they believe has been mitigated. Furthermore, closing a deal with Republican Party senators would almost certainly divide Democrats badly, especially in the House, something Democratic leaders in Congress are eager to avoid.
So the Senate is ready to accept the bill with Democratic leaders signaling that they will bypass Senate commissions and take the measure directly to the floor, in an effort to obstruct the bill in Congress in early March.
On Friday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer told his Democratic colleagues that they were “on the right track” to pass the $ 1.9 trillion bill by March 14, when benefits to unemployed will expire.
“If Republicans are ready to work with Democrats on constructive amendments that will improve the bill, we are ready to work,” said Schumer.
“However, we must not allow Republican obstructionism to stop us from our mission to bring aid to Americans who desperately need that relief.”
While Republicans criticize Biden for going it alone, Democrats say the Republican Party has not come close to the required price.
Prior to their White House meeting with Biden, Collins and nine other Republicans revealed a $ 600 billion counter-proposal to the president’s $ 1.9 trillion bill, something Democrats immediately dismissed as insufficient.
The Republican Party’s plan had $ 160 billion for vaccinations, an extension of federal unemployment benefits, and included relief checks that Republicans argued were more specifically tailored to those most in need. He also avoided controversial ideas like raising the minimum wage to $ 15, something strongly contested by Republicans.
Republicans are now warning that what could be Biden’s first major achievement will almost certainly come without any support from the Republican Party.
“If it remains unchanged from what was originally proposed, I predict that no Republicans will support the $ 1.9 trillion plan,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican.
Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.