Joe Biden is dominated by one issue: will he fulfill promises of unity and continue to court Republicans reluctant to negotiate on his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
For Tawnya Bouma, who operates a non-profit that offers mental health treatment in Michigan, it is irrelevant whether Washington's relief has bipartisan support. It would be great to have both parties behind it, she says, it would demonstrate widespread empathy, and she appreciates Biden's calls for unity. Still, she needs to know that her organization, which supports veterans and first responders' spouses and children, will remain afloat.
The pandemic has caused the grants and donations to dry up, which she usually depends on. The $23,000 EIDL loan she got last April has been drained, and her two Paycheck Security Program (PPP) loan applications have gone unheeded.
A group of 10 Republican senators pitched a $618bn coronavirus relief package to the new president at the White House in the first significant test of whether the U.S. Republicans and also the Democrats can partly work together under President Joe Biden.
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President Biden has introduced a more ambitious policy plan priced at $1.9 trillion, and Democratic members of his party are prepared to drive the bill without Republican votes through Congress.
On Monday afternoon at the White House, Biden met with a group headed by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. A letter to Biden Sunday was written by Collins' party, which includes both moderate and conservative Republicans, offering a counteroffer to his $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill proposal. White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Biden later contacted Collins to invite the party to a face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office.
The meeting was planned to use an alternative, fast-track budgetary mechanism amid a drive among Democrats on Capitol Hill to allow them to proceed without Republican support. Last week, Congressional Democratic leaders said GOP plans did not go far enough, and on Friday, Biden indicated openness to going forward potentially without Republicans.
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Joe Biden to act on the covid relief bill.
Even before Biden's senators' meeting on Monday, Democrats proposed a joint $1.9 trillion budget bill, a crucial move to bypassing Republicans on the Covid relief bill.
"Democrats welcome the ideas and input of our Senate Republican colleagues. The only thing we cannot accept is a package that is too small or too narrow to pull our country out of this emergency," Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said.
The decision adds to pressure the Congress to act, additional unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid approved in 2020 is scheduled to expire in March.
The Republicans offer Slimmer incentives, including $1,000 in direct grants to those making up to $40,000 a year, or $80,000 for couples. There will be no eligibility for people making more than $50,000 and couples earning more than $100,000.
According to the draft, the GOP proposal's cornerstone tends to be $160bn for the healthcare response: delivery of vaccines, a "massive expansion" of research, protective equipment, and funds for rural hospitals.
Other plan components are identical but come in much smaller quantities, with $20 billion for reopening schools and $40 billion for business support from the Paycheck Protection Program.
