Washington – Congressional Democrats are preparing to move forward with a process that will allow them to pass coronavirus legislation without Republican votes, in case lawmakers are unable to negotiate a two-pronged deal on a new one round of federal aid.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that the House will speak next week on a budget resolution, the first step in using the process of budget reconciliation to pass an account. Republicans have expressed concern about the price tag of President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion proposal, which means the bill may not get enough votes to pass through the Senate without resorting to reconciliation.
“I hope we don’t need it, but if we need to, we’ll have it,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday about the option to use budget reconciliation, a maneuver that could be used to push the bill with a simple majority. Senate to approve. “We want it to always be dual, but we can’t surrender.”
Caroline Brehman / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday that the upper house would “begin considering a very strong COVID bill next week.”
“Our preference is to make this important work two-fold, with input, ideas and revisions from our Republican colleagues or two-pronged efforts to do the same. But if our Republican colleagues decide to oppose this urgent and necessary legislation, we will have to move forward without them, “Schumer said. The White House has indicated that it is unwilling to split the proposal into smaller bills, and is hoping for an agreement on a larger package.
Democrats hold a narrow majority of 50 seats in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris drawing a tie, and most legislation requires 60 votes in the Senate to end the debate. Unless Democrats get support from 10 Republicans, the proposal wouldn’t go through. The White House is in talks with a bipartisan group of 16 senators to formulate a deal, but even if all eight Republicans in that coalition agreed to vote for the bill, Democrats would need two more Republican votes to reach the threshold of 60 votes.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters earlier this week that Democrats are working on writing a budget resolution, which could be filed as early as next week.
“Everyone wants to work in a two-pronged way, we hope Republicans will get on board. But the fact is that today this country is facing an unprecedented crisis in terms of the pandemic,” Sanders told reporters on Wednesday. “We have a problem, the American people are hurting and we need to respond quickly. I hope my Republican colleagues get on board. But if not, we’ll move on.”
Budgetary reconciliation speeds up procedures in the House and Senate and allows certain types of legislation to be passed with just a simple majority, meaning Democrats don’t need Republican votes to pass the bill.
“I certainly hope we have a two-pronged approach, but we need a substantial approach. We need it in time and I hope they will join us in that effort,” said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, one of the members of the United States. bipartite group. with the White House, said Thursday. He also said Mr Biden has called Republican senators and said there has been “direct personal contact by the president with these Republicans in the hope that we can do this on a two-pronged basis.”
Durbin warned that there is a “very real possibility” that Congress will continue the budget reconciliation process if they cannot reach an agreement quickly. But passing on the proposed relief through budget reconciliation could undermine Mr. Biden’s message that he wanted to work with Republicans on a two-party basis when taking office, and sow Republicans’ suspicion of the government.
“That will be a signal to America, and to Republicans throughout Congress, that this president’s message of unity was rhetoric rather than substance,” Republican Senator Todd Young told reporters on Thursday of the possibility of passing the proposal through. through budget reconciliation.
Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman, a member of the bipartisan group of senators who met on Sunday with Brian Deese, the White House economic assistant to discuss the aid package, has become increasingly concerned about the Biden administration’s approach to work with Republicans on the measure.
“It’s good to talk about duality, but it’s much better to actually do it,” Portman told reporters on Tuesday. “ If Parliament decides to go ahead with the reconciliation approach, which is one way of working with Republicans, then I think that at this stage at the beginning of this administration would be not only a big mistake but also irresponsible what happened to the COVID-19 package. “
There is a catch in the use of budget reconciliation – the legislation could be subject to what is popularly known as the “Byrd Rule”, which limits the provisions that can be included. Named after the late Senator Robert Byrd, the rule forbids “external” provisions in reconciliation, so that only items that affect federal budget spending are included. Some provisions in Mr. Biden’s proposal, such as raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and implementing paid time off for family reasons, may not qualify for inclusion under the Byrd rule.
Republican Senator John Cornyn warned that violating the Byrd rule to allow the introduction of a $ 15 minimum wage would “destroy the Senate as an institution as much as eliminating the filibuster.” By scrapping the legislative filibuster, a move supported by progressives in Congress, all legislation could pass by simple majority.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated on Thursday that President Biden still wants the COVID-19 aid package to be bipartisan, as congressional Democrats want to use the procedural method as a means of creating a COVID-19 aid package with a simple majority vote. But she said Republicans can get involved through reconciliation, even if Republicans object to key elements of the proposal.
“Republicans can still vote for a package” if it goes through reconciliation, Psaki said.
Asked if Mr. Biden wants to sign a bill that has no Republican backing, Psaki replied: Well, we’re not quite there yet, that gives us a few steps ahead of where we are today. ”
Top officials from the Biden administration held a phone call with Senate Democrats on Thursday afternoon and answered questions that “were all about policy,” said one participant in the call.
There were “no discussions about the outbreak,” that is, the idea of splitting the legislation into separate parts, this participant said.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the phone call was “excellent,” adding that the COVID-19 aid package should not be split up.
“We have to do it all together. It all fits together,” said Blumenthal. ‘Yes, I have no tolerance for delay. I have no patience to waste time, we have to do it all together. I think that’s the general feeling in the caucus. ‘
The White House threw cold water on the idea of splitting a package on Thursday.
“We don’t intend to split that package. That’s not a White House proposal,” Psaki said.
Ed O’Keefe, Jack Turman and Kathryn Watson contributed to the reporting.