On Monday evening, Feb. 1, President Joe Biden met with 10 Republican senators about his COVID-19 relief proposal. A compromise is not in sight.
Biden’s plan before meeting with GOP senators was a $1.9 trillion rescue package.
Biden’s proposal, “includes $1,400 direct payments, a $400 per week jobless benefit supplement, $350 billion in state and local government aid and $20 billion for a national vaccine program,” according to CNBC News.
To pass a COVID-19 relief bill, Democrats would need 10 Senate Republican votes.
“Republicans have already told him they won’t go that big, but in an effort to seek bipartisanship, Biden had a group of 10 Republicans to the White House Monday,” National Public Radio reported. “Ten is an important number, because it’s exactly the number of Republicans that Democrats would need to end a filibuster and pass the legislation.”
The Republican alternative plan released on Jan. 31 and discussed during the meeting was $618 billion, a third of the Biden administration’s plan.
“Their proposal would scale back Biden’s in multiple ways. First, direct payment recipients would get $400 less,” CNBC reported. “The plan would also start phasing checks out at $40,000 per year in income for individuals, versus $75,000 in the president’s proposal. The checks would be capped at $50,000 in income in the GOP proposal.”
There was no true conclusion or compromise during the meeting.
“The White House meeting lasted two hours, and one of those in attendance, Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, described the meeting as ‘cordial’ and ‘a very good exchange of views,’ but ‘I wouldn’t say we came together on a package.’”
Democrats plan to continue with the bill without Republican approval, using a budget rule.
“Congressional Democrats say they’re not going to let the possibility of bipartisanship get in the way of passing a needed bill,” NPR reported. “So they are preparing to use a decades-old budget rule called reconciliation to get around the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster and pass the legislation with a simple majority.”
A compromise between parties has not been made.
According to CBS News, the White House said in a statement that Biden “will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment.”
