Biden Presses Case for Large Covid Aid Package

Democrats on Capitol Hill are working on translating Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan, which bolsters unemployment aid, provides funds for vaccine distribution, and sends $1,400 checks to many Americans, among other measures, into legislation.

“President Biden spoke about the need for the Congress to respond boldly and quickly,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Tuesday after the meeting.

Mr. Biden’s meeting with Democrats comes a day after a group of 10 Republicans pitched Mr. Biden on a $618 billion proposal during a White House meeting, calling for the administration to quickly pass a bipartisan package. Mr. Biden, who didn’t take questions during Tuesday’s meeting, told Democrats that he thinks the GOP proposal is too small.

On Tuesday, Democrats took early procedural steps in a process called reconciliation, which will allow the Democrats to skirt the 60-vote threshold in the Senate and pass the package instead with a simple majority. In the Senate, all 50 Democrats voted to proceed to the budget resolution necessary to reconciliation, overcoming 49 Republican votes with one GOP absence, and the House approved a procedural step later Tuesday.

The Republican group’s counterproposal is less than a third of the size of Mr. Biden’s plan, leaving out Democratic priorities like aid to state and local governments and an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The Republicans want to scale back the $1,400 per person checks to $1,000 per adult and $500 per dependent. The GOP plan would provide $300 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits through June, a cut from the $400 a week through September in the Biden plan.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Democrats were abandoning the possibility of reaching a bipartisan deal by moving forward with reconciliation. Republicans say the package is too much too soon, pointing to the $900 billion in aid Congress passed in December.

“We’re off to a totally partisan start. I think that’s unfortunate,” Mr. McConnell said.

When they held the House, Senate and White House in 2017, Republicans used the same reconciliation procedure to pass tax cuts and unsuccessfully tried to use it for a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. McConnell met with a group of Republican senators on Tuesday morning to discuss reconciliation strategy, according to people familiar with the meeting.

The White House and Democratic leaders have said starting reconciliation doesn’t rule out bipartisan support or passing a potential deal through the standard legislative process.

Maintaining party unity among Democrats on the overall package may become more complicated as the process for passing the $1.9 trillion bill moves forward. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said he was opposed to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, a plank of Mr. Biden’s plan that progressives have rallied around.

“I’m supportive of having something that’s responsible and reasonable; in my state that would be $11,” Mr. Manchin said.

Asked if including the $15 minimum wage is a must-have for the White House, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House wasn’t going to negotiate in public.

Additionally, some moderate House Democrats have argued to the White House and Democratic leadership that a smaller, bipartisan bill focused on vaccines would pass through Congress more quickly, according to a person familiar with the conversations. The person said that the lawmakers contend that Democrats could follow up a smaller bill with broader legislation through the reconciliation process.

“A partisan bill using the reconciliation process could take weeks or even months,” said Rep. Jared Golden (D., Maine). “Acting now doesn’t mean Congress can’t do more later.”

—Catherine Lucey contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Duehren at [email protected]

Democrats on Capitol Hill are working on translating Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan, which bolsters unemployment aid, provides funds for vaccine distribution, and sends $1,400 checks to many Americans, among other measures, into legislation.

“President Biden spoke about the need for the Congress to respond boldly and quickly,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Tuesday after the meeting.

Mr. Biden’s meeting with Democrats comes a day after a group of 10 Republicans pitched Mr. Biden on a $618 billion proposal during a White House meeting, calling for the administration to quickly pass a bipartisan package. Mr. Biden, who didn’t take questions during Tuesday’s meeting, told Democrats that he thinks the GOP proposal is too small.

On Tuesday, Democrats took early procedural steps in a process called reconciliation, which will allow the Democrats to skirt the 60-vote threshold in the Senate and pass the package instead with a simple majority. In the Senate, all 50 Democrats voted to proceed to the budget resolution necessary to reconciliation, overcoming 49 Republican votes with one GOP absence, and the House approved a procedural step later Tuesday.

The Republican group’s counterproposal is less than a third of the size of Mr. Biden’s plan, leaving out Democratic priorities like aid to state and local governments and an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The Republicans want to scale back the $1,400 per person checks to $1,000 per adult and $500 per dependent. The GOP plan would provide $300 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits through June, a cut from the $400 a week through September in the Biden plan.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Democrats were abandoning the possibility of reaching a bipartisan deal by moving forward with reconciliation. Republicans say the package is too much too soon, pointing to the $900 billion in aid Congress passed in December.

“We’re off to a totally partisan start. I think that’s unfortunate,” Mr. McConnell said.

When they held the House, Senate and White House in 2017, Republicans used the same reconciliation procedure to pass tax cuts and unsuccessfully tried to use it for a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. McConnell met with a group of Republican senators on Tuesday morning to discuss reconciliation strategy, according to people familiar with the meeting.

The White House and Democratic leaders have said starting reconciliation doesn’t rule out bipartisan support or passing a potential deal through the standard legislative process.

Maintaining party unity among Democrats on the overall package may become more complicated as the process for passing the $1.9 trillion bill moves forward. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said he was opposed to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, a plank of Mr. Biden’s plan that progressives have rallied around.

“I’m supportive of having something that’s responsible and reasonable; in my state that would be $11,” Mr. Manchin said.

Asked if including the $15 minimum wage is a must-have for the White House, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House wasn’t going to negotiate in public.

Additionally, some moderate House Democrats have argued to the White House and Democratic leadership that a smaller, bipartisan bill focused on vaccines would pass through Congress more quickly, according to a person familiar with the conversations. The person said that the lawmakers contend that Democrats could follow up a smaller bill with broader legislation through the reconciliation process.

“A partisan bill using the reconciliation process could take weeks or even months,” said Rep. Jared Golden (D., Maine). “Acting now doesn’t mean Congress can’t do more later.”

—Catherine Lucey contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Duehren at [email protected]