Biden, two sources familiar with the call, rang Collins, speaking out against her, leaving the Republican with the clear impression that he was receptive to making a deal with the GOP.
But the call soon fell after White House staff agreed, with Collins and White House economic adviser Brian Deese having an exchange of views on housing funding in the proposal – and the Senate Republican claiming that there are still outstanding issues. money was yet to be spent.
The end result: no deal, confirming Biden’s view that the Republican approach was far too thin for the current economic and public health crises.
But Republicans, still exasperated by the lack of progress in the short-lived bipartisan talks, see a president paralyzed by both White House staff and Democrats in Congress, whom they think have much less interest in. Collaboration with the GOP and seem more willing to advance their agenda without regard to the minority party. The Republicans’ argument: Biden seems willing to make a deal, but will not do so because of pressure from those around him.
“He seemed more willing than his staff to negotiate,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who met with Biden and a group of GOP senators earlier this month.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell says this is the message Republican senators who negotiated with Biden have also left with him.
“Our members who were in the meeting felt that the president seemed more interested in that than his staff – or that it seems like the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are,” McConnell said earlier this month.
White House officials have pushed back the idea that Biden’s aides are deterring him from pursuing a more two-pronged approach to Covid aid, and the president himself told Collins and other Republicans at the Oval Office meeting that their proposal was lacking.
On a Friday tour of a Pfizer facility in Michigan, Biden said that while he’s open to working with Republicans to make his bill “cheaper,” he’s not willing to make much concessions to its content.
‘What would they make me cut? What would they omit me? ‘ he asked forcefully.
A White House official said Biden has been “consistent” in his private discussions with lawmakers about the need to “get big,” claiming that while he is “open to agreement” with Republicans, “he believes what the Republican group put forward earlier this month is not enough, and he has not deviated from that position in any of the negotiations on this bill. ”
Democrats are moving forward
Democrats say they learned very well from past mistakes, including in the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency, arguing that months of negotiating with Republicans will eventually lead to policies they think are watered down. In addition, making a deal with GOP senators would almost certainly severely divide Democrats, especially in Parliament, something that Democratic leaders in Congress would like to avoid.
Then the Senate is poised to pass the bill, with Democratic leaders signaling that they will bypass Senate committees and take the measure straight to the floor in an attempt to block the bill through Congress in early March.
On Friday, Senate leader Chuck Schumer told his Democratic colleagues they were “on track” to settle the $ 1.9 trillion bill on March 14, when unemployment benefits expire.
“If Republicans are willing to work with Democrats on constructive amendments that will improve the bill, we are willing to work,” Schumer said.
“However, we must not allow Republican obstruction to prevent us from providing assistance to Americans who desperately need it.”
While Republicans criticize Biden for doing it alone, Democrats say the GOP is nowhere near the price tag it takes.
Prior to their White House meeting with Biden, Collins and nine other Republicans had disclosed a $ 600 billion counter-proposal to the president’s $ 1.9 trillion bill, something the Democrats immediately dismiss as inadequate.
The GOP plan had $ 160 billion for vaccinations, an extension of federal unemployment benefits, and included emergency checks that Republicans say were more closely tailored to those with the most needs. It also avoided controversial ideas such as raising the minimum wage to $ 15, which Republicans strongly opposed.
Republicans are now warning that what could be Biden’s first major achievement will almost certainly come without any GOP backing.
“If it goes ahead without any change from what was originally proposed, I would predict that no Republican will support the $ 1.9 trillion plan,” said Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican.
Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.