WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – US President Joe Biden met Monday with
a group of Republican senators who are pushing an alternative to his massive
Covid-19 relief plan, but no agreement was reached.
Biden, who campaigned on restoring bipartisanship in Washington, wants to
spend $1.9 trillion to revitalize the world’s largest economy after the
pandemic caused waves of layoffs last year, but Republicans in Congress have
said they won’t support such a large package.
On Sunday, a group of 10 Republicans detailed a measure costing $600
billion, and Biden responded with an invitation to the White House to discuss
the idea.
But no agreement was at hand following the meeting, which Republican
Senator Susan Collins described as “frank and very useful,” if not
conclusive.
“I wouldn’t say that we came together on a package tonight. No one expected
that in a two-hour meeting,” she told reporters.
For its part, the White House said its package “was carefully designed to
meet the stakes of this moment, and any changes in it cannot leave the nation
short of its pressing needs.”
An outline of the Republican proposal shows it excludes aid to state and
local governments that Democrats say any package must have. It also gives out
stimulus checks of $1,000, less than the $1,400 Biden has proposed, and
tightens eligibility.
Democratic leaders responded to the proposal by announcing they were moving
ahead with a maneuver in Congress to pass the president’s plan without
Republican votes, while Biden took to Twitter to restate his case.
“We’re facing an economic crisis brought on by a public health crisis, and
we need urgent action to combat both,” he said. “My American Rescue Plan will
dig us out of the depths of these crises and put our nation on a path to
build back better.”
– Latest stimulus –
In a sign of the economy’s ill health, the government last week said that
the number of new applications for unemployment aid received each week was at
1.3 million, an enormous figure 10 months after business shutdowns began in
response to the pandemic.
It also released data showing the country last year suffered its worst
contraction since 1946, with the economy shrinking 3.5 percent.
Yet it may be bouncing back faster than expected.
On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office said it expected GDP to reach
its pre-pandemic level by the middle of this year, “in large part because the
downturn was not as severe as expected and because the first stage of the
recovery took place sooner and was stronger than expected.”
However, employment will take longer to recover, and while the nonpartisan
office serving Congress expected the unemployment rate to gradually decline
through 2026, it did not forecast when it would return to the historically
low level it hit before the pandemic.
Besides the stimulus checks, Biden’s proposal would pay for programs to
help schools safely reopen, accelerate Covid-19 testing and vaccine
distribution, financially support small businesses and increase food aid for
those in need.
– Agreement or reconciliation –
Republicans say the bill is far too costly at a time of historic debt
levels, and with Congress having already committed some $4 trillion to
pandemic relief — including $900 billion in December.
They want aid more closely targeted to those in need, and their plan’s
outline shows it apportions a total of $160 billion to fight the pandemic,
including $20 billion for a national vaccine program and $50 billion to
expand testing.
It also includes $132 billion to extend emergency unemployment provisions
through June, but whereas Biden’s proposal includes $350 billion in state and
local aid, the Republicans’ includes zero.
Their plan is backed by 10 senators including party heavyweights like Mitt
Romney, the candidate for president in 2012, and Rob Portman, a former
director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. If Biden is to
achieve his goal of bipartisanship, such a group could prove crucial.
Ten Republican votes would also give Senate Democrats — assuming they hold
together — enough support to pass the president’s plan under normal
procedure, which requires 60 out of 100 votes.
Democrats have said they will otherwise turn to a process known as
reconciliation, which would allow passage with a simple majority.
On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer said they had filed a joint budget resolution that marks the first
step towards passing the plan through that process.