WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s top advisers on Sunday began negotiations with a group of moderate Republicans and Senate Democrats over a $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package, while Biden faces rising headwinds in his effort to win bipartisan support for his presidency’s initial legislative effort.
Right-wing lawmakers question the wisdom of accumulating larger deficits, while those on the left are asking Biden not to spend too much time on bipartisanship when the pandemic is killing thousands of Americans every day and costing more jobs amid increasing restrictions. rigid in many communities.
At least a dozen senators met for an hour and 15 minutes on a virtual call with the director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, and other senior White House officials. Many hope to approve an aid package before the trial of former President Donald Trump, due to begin in two weeks, draws Washington’s attention.
Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, called the opening talks a “serious effort”.
“There was no sign of cynicism or lack of commitment to at least try to resolve something,” said King. “If they were just trying to get through this, I don’t think it would have interrupted the Packers game.”
King told reporters that there was “absolute consensus” among the group that priority number 1 was to speed up the distribution of vaccines and expand the COVID-19 test and screening.
The White House did not seem to give in to breaking the package or reducing the overall price, even when pressing for bipartisan support. There was also no discussion of pushing him through a procedural move that could be done without Republicans, King said.
A leading Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, said later: “It seems premature to consider a package of this size and scope.”
Collins said he would instead bring the bipartisan group together “and see if we could come up with a more targeted package”. She said in a statement that a bill with additional funding for vaccine distribution “would be useful”.
Senators from both parties raised questions about economic aid provisions, particularly making direct payments of $ 1,400 to Americans best suited to recipients based on need.
Senators also wanted more data on how the White House reached the $ 1.9 trillion figure.
Many of the senators are from a bipartisan group that outlined the latest COVID-19 agreement approved at the end of last year. They joined them in the call by the two leaders of the Chamber’s Problem Solvers Caucus, Reps. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J., and Tom Reed, RN.Y., who were also part of the previous discussions.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, DN.H., told the Associated Press that no red lines were drawn. But she added that there was a consensus among participants in the call “that the more targeted the aid, the more effective it can be”.
Overall, “it was a conversation and it wasn’t about drawing lines in the sand,” said Shaheen. “It was about how we can work together to help the people of this country.”
The White House coronavirus response coordinator, Jeff Zients, and the White House director of legislative affairs, Louisa Terrell, also joined the call.
Immediately, Biden made it clear that going quickly for another round of coronavirus relief is a top priority, as he seeks to control the pandemic and the related economic crisis, while demonstrating that it can break the impasse that has affected Congress for much of the last two presidencies.
Biden and his advisers, in their public comments, emphasized that their plan is a starting point and that finding common ground for relief should be possible, considering the devastating impact the pandemic is having on Democratic and Republican states. With more than 412,000 dead and the economy losing jobs again, Biden argued that there is no time to lose.
“We are going to keep pushing because we can’t wait,” said the White House’s deputy press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. “Just because Washington has been locked up before, it doesn’t mean that it needs to continue locking up
The focus of Biden’s campaign, in addition to healing the wounds created by the Trump presidency, was that he was a proven bipartisan negotiator, someone who would draw on his decades in the Senate and deep relationships with Republicans to reduce party divisions.
Some Biden advisers watched with concern as the Senate, just days after the president’s term began, was already at an impasse over a power-sharing deal, with Republican leader Mitch McConnell refusing to budge under the requirement to keep the obstruction intact. If the Senate gets confused with its basic principles, some Democrats have wondered, how could he reach a big deal?
In addition, some of Biden’s favorite methods of lobbying and talking have been restricted by the pandemic. While his schedule remains one of the best in Washington, it appears to be much more difficult for Biden – at least for the foreseeable future – to engage in the face-to-face politics he prefers.
Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, before the meeting, raised concerns again about the government’s wisdom in engaging in massive deficit spending.
“If we go beyond COVID, I believe the economy will come back strong,” Romney told Fox News Sunday. “And spending and borrowing trillions of dollars from the Chinese, among others, is not necessarily the best thing we can do to strengthen our economy in the long run.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who joins the Democrats, said he had no high hopes for negotiations that would lead to Republican support and suggested that Democrats may need to use budgetary reconciliation to approve it with a simple majority. The procedural tool would allow Democrats to pass the package for approval without the 60-vote limit normally required to get the legislation through an obstruction. Republicans used the same tool to approve tax cuts during the Trump administration.
“What we can’t do is wait weeks and weeks and months and months to move forward,” said Sanders. “We have to act now. This is what the American people want. “
___
Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.