President-elect Joe Biden’s economic aid package is expected to cost trillions, and transition officials on Tuesday briefed Democratic Congress staff of his priorities for the massive stimulus bill, two people familiar with the plans told CBS News.
Elements of the package provided by Mr. Biden considered “critical” include $ 2,000 in stimulus payments for Americans, more money for cities and states to strengthen their response to COVID-19 and to improve vaccine distribution and provide more funding for schools.
Mr. Biden also wants to see a new extension and increase in the improved unemployment insurance benefits, which were extended last month and are currently scheduled until mid-March.
How will Biden convince Congress to pass this bill?
Biden’s White House is looking for bipartisan support for its COVID aid package, which could mean significant legislative changes to attract more Republican support. This goal was also communicated to the conference staff on Tuesday.
If Mr. Biden cannot reach an agreement with Senate Republicans, this package could undergo reconciliation, a process sometimes used for spending measures. Under this approach, the bill would only require a simple majority to pass and would not be blocked by a filibuster. Most Senate bills require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. This option would be used to pass under the Biden team with only Democratic votes. Once the Georgia Senate election results are certified, there will be a 50-50 split between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would cut all ties. With Harris as the 51st vote, the Democrats will control the Senate.
President-elect Biden is expected to outline his COVID relief proposal on Thursday. A transition official from Biden did not respond to the request for comment on Wednesday.
This legislation will likely face intense lobbying from congressmen and special interests, which could affect the final price tag.
Some elements of the legislation, such as the $ 2,000 stimulus payments for Americans, already have bipartisan support. Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio sent a letter on Tuesday begging Mr. Biden to include the bigger checks. The president-elect has been calling for the $ 2,000 checks for weeks and campaigning on the issue in Georgia ahead of the Jan. 5 second Senate election.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a 15-page letter to Biden’s transition officials leading the COVID-19 response, calling for greater scrutiny of the federal government’s response to the pandemic. Warren wants more data to be collected and reported on places with frequent COVID-19 clusters, including residential care facilities and behavioral clinics.
The new government has requested input on the legislation from state and local leaders. Biden executives have been in “listening mode” with several governor offices to get their ratings of the COVID-19 response from the federal government. “We are getting a different sense of urgency than the previous administration to address this and they are proactively working with states,” an official in a Democratic governor’s office told CBS News.
Xavier Becerra, nominated Secretary of Health and Human Services, along with Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated general surgeon, and the head of the COVID Equity Task Force, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, also recently met with a dozen faith leaders , who, along with tens of millions of members, combined leading religious groups to discuss fair federal response in communities of color.
Two attendees told CBS News that the group discussed using faith-based hospitals and clinics to increase access to and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine, especially in places with “pharmacy deserts.” Specific plans to reach Americans who are skeptical of the vaccine were not outlined by the Biden team, two faith leaders told CBS News, but both said they were encouraged by the discussion.
A faith leader told CBS News that his network plans to lobby the Biden team to expand tax cuts for children.