Republicans who want a bipartisan deal on coronavirus relief are making a last-ditch effort to turn President Joe Biden away from a party-line approach that would avoid the Senate's supermajority requirement.
A group of Senate Republicans is requesting a meeting with Biden to begin bipartisan negotiations on the next coronavirus relief bill, even as Democratic leaders are prepared this week to go down a path that could pass a new $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package with all Democratic votes. The new package would be roughly a third the size of Biden's proposal, one GOP senator said Sunday.
In a letter to Biden sent on Sunday, 10 Senate Republicans informed the president that they are working on a counterproposal focusing on spending $160 billion on vaccines, testing, treatment and personal protective equipment. Led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the senators said that if Biden signs off on their framework, we believe that this plan could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support.
In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief framework that builds on prior COVID assistance laws, all of which passed with bipartisan support, the senators wrote to Biden. We request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss our proposal in greater detail and how we can work together to meet the needs of the American people during this persistent pandemic.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a member of the group, estimated the legislation would cost roughly $600 billion. Senate Republicans contend there are hundreds of billions of dollars left over from previous bills, undercutting the need for the amount proposed by Biden.
"If you want unity, you want bipartisanship, you ought to start with the group that's willing to work together," Cassidy said on "Fox News Sunday." "They did not."
The letter is a clear attempt to head off Democratic efforts to pursue budget reconciliation as the pathway to the next round of coronavirus aid. This week, Democrats in both chambers are planning to pass budget resolutions allowing the party to approve Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan without GOP votes. That tactic, called budget reconciliation, would allow Democrats and Biden to move more quickly than trying to cut a deal with Republicans that can get 60 votes.
Noting the failings of the government response to the last economic crisis in 2009 and the GOP reluctance to spend money, White House officials and Democratic senators contend that the biggest risk at the moment is not going big enough.
Biden "is absolutely willing to negotiate," said Jared Bernstein, a top Biden economic adviser, on "Fox News Sunday." But, he added: "The cost of inaction is extremely high."
Still, that path has little room for error: All 50 Senate Democrats would need to be on board, and House leaders could afford few defections. And Republicans in a bipartisan negotiating group have urged Biden to squash the effort to move forward without them, though Democrats are skeptical they will ever come on board with the large spending plan they say is needed to revive the economy.
The Biden administration said it would see what the Senate Republicans had to offer. Weve received the letter and we certainly will be reviewing it over the course of the day, Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Deese spoke to the Senate Democratic Caucus last week and has been engaged directly with members of both parties. He said on NBC's "Meet the Press" he would continue doing that and that the president's open to compromise: "What he's uncompromising about is the need to move with speed on a comprehensive approach here."
The Republican senators will release more details of their plan Monday, according to a Republican aide.