Biden, Yellen pan GOP virus aid proposal as too small, urge action

President Joe Biden told Senate Democrats on a private call Tuesday that a Republican alternative to his $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan is insufficient as he urged lawmakers to boldly and swiftly confront the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis.

Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined senators for the virtual meeting, both declaring the Republicans’ $618 billion offer was too small. The president urged the senators not to forget middle class families—nurses and pipefitters, for example—who are earning incomes but still struggling.

Democrats are moving head with procedural votes Tuesday in the Senate to launch a process that would fast-track Biden’s bill over GOP opposition by a March deadline.

“We are not going to dilute, dither or delay,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “The needs of the American people are just too great.”

The swift action from Democrats on Capitol Hill underscores the urgency of the pandemic response and economic aid, Biden’s top legislative priority, even as talks are progressing privately between Republicans and the White House, as well as with centrist Democrats, on potential adjustments to the package to win over broader bipartisan support.

Biden framed his views on the virtual meeting by talking about the need not to forget working middle class families, even those making $150,000 for a family of four, who are straining during the crisis, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private call.

The outcome will test the new president who made a national plea for unity at his inaugural but is confronting a rising COVID death toll and stubbornly high jobless numbers, with grave political risks for all sides for failure. Vaccine distributions, direct payments to households and business aid are all on the line.

At the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Biden’s view that the risk is not in crafting too large a package, but in providing too little aid. She said the president was hopeful Republican ideas will be brought forward and included.

“We need to make sure people get the relief they need,” she said

The two sides are far apart, with the Republican group of 10 senators focused primarily on the health care crisis and smaller $1,000 direct aid to Americans than the $1,400 payments Biden proposed, and the president leading Democrats toward a more sweeping rescue plan to shore up households, local governments and a partly shuttered economy.

The goal is to have COVID-19 relief approved by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires.

Biden told a group of 10 Republican senators during a lengthy two-hour meeting late Monday that he’s unwilling to settle on an insufficient coronavirus aid package after they pitched their slimmed down $618 billion proposal.

While no compromise was reached during the lengthy session, Biden’s first with lawmakers at the White House, talks are privately underway on various alternatives. The president made it clear that he won’t delay aid in hopes of winning GOP support.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the GOP senators outlined a framework for a potential bipartisan approach, but he criticized the Democrats for pressing ahead on their own. He said he spoke to Biden ahead of his meeting with the 10 GOP senators.

“They’ve chosen a totally partisan path,” McConnell said. “That’s unfortunate.”

White House officials have previously cited the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as evidence of broad support for their plan, but the nation’s most prominent business group issued a letter Tuesday that urged a bipartisan compromise.

“What we’ve seen based on what the president has put forward and what 10 Senate Republicans have put forward, there ought to be common ground for a bipartisan proposal that can become law,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer, said in an interview.

The Chamber’s letter said a move by congressional Democrats to use the budget process to pass an aid package along party lines could be damaging other parts of the Biden agenda such as infrastructure, climate change and overhauling immigration.

The cornerstone of the GOP plan is $160 billion for the health care response—vaccine distribution, a “massive expansion” of testing, protective gear and funds for rural hospitals, similar to what Biden has proposed.

But from there, the two plans drastically diverge. The Republicans includes $20 billion to reopen schools compared to $170 billion in Biden’s plan. They also would give nothing to states, money that Democrats argue is just as important, with $350 billion in Biden’s plan to keep police, fire and other workers on the job.

The GOP’s $1,000 direct payments would go to fewer households, individuals earning up to $40,000 a year, or $80,000 for couples. That’s less than Biden’s proposal of $1,400 direct payments at higher incomes levels, up to $300,000 for some households..

The Republicans offer $40 billion for Paycheck Protection Program business aid. But gone are Democratic priorities such as a gradual lifting of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Winning the support of 10 Republicans would be significant, potentially giving Biden the votes needed in the 50-50 Senate to the 60-vote threshold typically required to advance legislation. Harris is the tie-breaker reach

Wary Democrats pushed ahead at the Capitol, unwilling to take too much time in courting GOP support that may not materialize or in delivering too meager a package that they believe doesn’t address the scope of the nation’s health crisis and economic problems.

Votes in the Senate will start Tuesday with groundwork for eventual approval under the the budget reconciliation process, which would allow the bill to pass with a 51-vote majority in the Senate, rather than the 60 votes typically needed.