Her. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret CollinsNight Healthcare: US Exceeds Half Million COVID Deaths | House panel advance Biden’s .9T COVID-19 support bill | Johnson & Johnson set to deliver doses to 20 million Americans by the end of March. On The Money: Neera Tanden’s nomination at risk after three GOP-no | Trump Rages After SCOTUS Financial Data Rules Tanden’s path to confirmation seems increasingly untenable (R-Maine) says so President Biden
Joe BidenTikTok users spread conspiracy that Texas snow was government-manufactured The problem with a one-size-fits-all federal minimum wage hike Throwing money into Central America won’t curb illegal migration MOREThe $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package is unlikely to get Republican votes on the Senate floor.
And she pointed to the Senate majority leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerLawmakers Proposes Bill to Establish Capitol Riot Commission The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented By The AIDS Institute – COVID-19 Rescue Bill A Unity Test For Dems OVERNIGHT ENERGY: US Formally Raises Paris Climate Agreement | Biden Energy Dept Orders Major Overhaul of Trump’s Energy Rules | Texas’s power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from total outage, officials say MORE (DN.Y.) and the White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain
Ron Klain Capito asks White House to pass toxic chemicals rule White House press officer resigns after threat from Politico reporter Sanders says Biden sees progressives as ‘a strong part of his coalition’ MORE as a major reason why the bipartisan talks on the aid law fell apart.
Collins said Tuesday that Biden’s senior advisers have refused to move away from their $ 1.9 trillion proposal, which GOP moderates say is far too expensive given their preference for what they call “targeted” aid.
As a result, Biden’s relief proposal, expected to be passed by the House this week and coming to the Senate floor before March 14, is likely to end with a regular party line vote.
Schumer gets around a Republican filibuster by using special fiscal rules to pass the emergency by a simple majority. Vice President Harris would break the expected tie in the 50-50 Senate.
“The government has not indicated its willingness to cut the $ 1.9 trillion amount, which is a major obstacle,” Collins told reporters.
“We have expressed our willingness to get off our $ 618 billion, but unfortunately the White House appears to be marrying an amount that really cannot be justified given the hundreds of billions of dollars still in the pipeline from December’s bill, she added.
Collins said she and her centrist GOP colleagues want to make changes to Biden’s proposal when it comes to the Senate floor, but she predicted there would be no Republican support for the package in its current form.
“What we’re looking at now is whether there are changes we could make. But I would be surprised if there was support in the Republican caucus when the bill hits $ 1.9 trillion, even if we are able to make some favorable changes, ”she said.
Collins is the leader of a group of 10 Republican moderates who met with Biden at the White House early this month. At the meeting, they proposed a $ 618 billion counter-offer, limiting direct payments to individuals to $ 1,000 per person instead of $ 1,400 per person for adults and children as proposed by the Biden government.
The Senate GOP moderates also forfeited $ 350 billion in tax cuts for state and local governments as Biden made a centerpiece of his plan.
Collins praised Biden for “doing a good job reaching out to Republicans in Congress,” but lamented what she called the efforts of Schumer and White House staff to stem Biden’s dual impulses.
“What appear to be productive talks appears to be opposed by the Democratic leader in the Senate,” she said.
And a perfect example of that is when the two of us had our White House meeting with the 10 Republicans to present our plan, discuss it with the president. He was very thoughtful, gracious in the details and there was a big discussion, ”she said of the February 1 meeting with Biden.
But Collins said Klain, who was standing at the back of the room at the meeting, appeared to float in the room to destroy the possibility that the president would diminish his proposal to raise Republican support.
“Ron was shaking his head in the back of the room all the time, which isn’t exactly an encouraging sign,” she said.
Collins said she has held talks with senior White House officials about the size and scope of the COVID-19 aid package since meeting Biden, but those talks have not produced any progress.
“I’ve had conversations with people in the White House, as well as other members of the group. But I think the sticking point is that White House staff seem to be very attached to that $ 1.9 trillion thing, ”she said.
Collins said she was specifically concerned about $ 50 billion in Biden’s proposal for “unidentified” priorities.
“The first package they explained in the $ 160 billion that we all believe is the right amount for the COVID vaccine, the manufacturer’s distribution for additional testing, etc. But it contained $ 50 billion. , that just said unidentified. I mean, that’s not acceptable, ”she said.
We’re not going to give a blank check for ‘unidentified’. I mean, that’s extraordinary, ”she added.