Democrats insist that Republican input remains a priority in passing coronavirus relief. But if they can’t find common ground, the majority party vows to move on without the GOP.
DEMOCRATS ARE CHARTING a new path to help them pass the latest round of coronavirus relief in the event that Congress can't successfully negotiate and coalesce around bipartisan legislation like they did multiple times over the course of 2020.
With slim majorities in both chambers and control of the White House, Democrats are simultaneously gauging Republicans' appetite for another pricey rescue package while also embarking on a legislative solo mission that'll allow them to pass it without any GOP support: budget reconciliation.
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[ READ: Slumping Economy May Need Another Dose of Stimulus ]
The procedural move takes away the filibuster as a shield for the minority party by removing the 60-vote threshold needed to advance most Senate legislation and replacing it with a simple majority. To avoid its use in a 50-50 split Senate, Democrats will need to win over at least 10 Republicans, which is looking like a tough prospect given the GOP's increasing hesitancy to keep funding large rescue packages. President Joe Biden has released a $1.9 trillion proposal, though it's likely to undergo changes.
Biden and congressional Democrats insist that Republican input and support remain their first priorities. But if both parties can't find common ground, Democrats vow to move on without them. And they're not waiting to see if bipartisan support for more COVID-19 aid comes to fruition before at least making the first moves on reconciliation, since the party is working with a short timeline.
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Democrats are aiming to make significant headway and pass a bill by mid-March because of an "unemployment insurance cliff." Enhanced federal unemployment benefits of $300 a week, which were approved in the latest package from December, are set to expire on March 14.
"Our preference is to make this important work bipartisan. ... But if our Republican colleagues decide to oppose this urgent and necessary legislation, we will have to move forward without them," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Thursday. "We have a responsibility to help the American people fast, particularly given these new economic numbers."
The go-it-alone approach would be a marked difference from how Congress passed a series of bills between March and December of last year that garnered overwhelming bipartisan support. And it would come at a time when relationships are already severely strained and now further exacerbated amid the fallout of the riots that ransacked the Capitol.
Lawmakers last year passed nearly half a dozen installments of coronavirus aid that totaled almost $4 trillion even as partisan rancor consumed Congress. Four separate bills passed in quick succession in the early weeks of the pandemic, followed by months of contentious on-again, off-again negotiations. The dry spell ended in late December with the passage of $900 billion in COVID-19 aid that gave Americans $600 stimulus checks and restored federal unemployment benefits at half the amount from the March package.
Democrats are anxious to move quickly in the early days of the Biden administration and pass much-needed relief as the country grapples with nearly 26 million total cases and a death toll nearing 435,000 amid a slower-than-expected vaccine rollout.
And now with a unified government, the party is looking to make good on their promises from the 2020 campaign that new aid would be delivered quickly with Biden in office. They also pledged to advance "bolder" legislation than past relief bills, especially since Democrats' top priority of state and local aid was left on the cutting room floor in December negotiations.
Both chambers of Congress will take their first steps toward initiating budget reconciliation in the coming days.
Schumer said the Senate "will begin the process next week," while Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California confirmed that the House will bring a budget resolution to the floor by the end of next week.
Prior to his inauguration, Biden proposed his $1.9 trillion rescue package covering a wide-ranging list of priorities, including $1,400 stimulus checks, enhanced federal unemployment benefits that would increase to $400 a week and billions of dollars for school reopenings, vaccine and testing infrastructure and state, local and tribal governments.
If Democrats ultimately go through with the reconciliation process, the party will need all 50 senators to vote for the legislation. That leaves no room for error with a narrow majority, heightening the pressure for Schumer to keep his caucus unified. And if they win over no Republicans, Vice President Kamala Harris would cast a vote in the event of a tie.
Democrats' decision to proceed on a dual track is causing some heartburn among Republicans, who argue that pursuing budget reconciliation undermines Biden's repeated message of unity.
"That's going to send a signal to America and to Republicans throughout Congress that this president's message of unity was rhetoric as opposed to substance," GOP Sen. Todd Young of Indiana told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.
Hopes remain, however, for compromise. A group of bipartisan senators who sought to jump-start relief negotiations late last year are seeking to play another role this time around. Earlier this week, the coalition spoke with Brian Deese, the director of Biden's national economic council, about the state of coronavirus relief.
[ READ: Biden Proposes $1.9T Virus Relief Plan ]
But hurdles exist since Republicans have a varying degree of demands and resistance to coronavirus aid. Some are eager to make something work, while others still raise concerns about the significant spending Congress has racked up since last March. Most Republicans, however, are united in opposition to the administration's push to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour.
Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress are being pulled in two different directions with Republicans who balk at the high price tag and want more targeted relief, while progressives want the party to go higher and weigh certain provisions like recurring stimulus checks.
While the president's proposal could face some alterations, like the amount, the White House has already indicated its unwillingness to break up a large rescue package and only pass certain elements that may have more bipartisan appeal.
"His main bottom line is that we're not going to break it apart, and the three components are pivotal in moving it forward," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. "But the size and the scope of the package – this is the legislative process, this is democracy at work now."
When asked directly later if he supports using reconciliation, Biden indicated that he's open to whatever approach will deliver relief in the near future.
"I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it," the president said Friday on his way to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington. "But the COVID relief has to pass. No ifs, ands or buts."
Lisa Hagen, Reporter
Lisa Hagen is a politics reporter for U.S. News & World Report covering Congress, the 2020 ... READ MORE
Tags: Congress, coronavirus, economic stimulus, legislation, Democratic Party