GOP senators offer Covid-19 relief counterproposal to force talks with White House back to middle – CNN

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the Republicans who signed on to the letter, told Fox News on Sunday that the GOP plan includes payments starting at $1,000 — an amount lower than the $1,400 Biden’s plan provides for — that would decrease depending an individual’s income level.

An aide close to the process told CNN the plan is expected to be between $500-$600 billion, though lawmakers are still waiting to hear from the Congressional Budget Office on the estimated cost.

Portman, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, wouldn’t specify how much the group’s package would cost, but said it will be “less than $1.9 trillion,” the cost of Biden’s plan.

“You know, our proposal is an example — it’s going to have all of the health care funding that President Biden has in his proposal, all of it. So there’s a lot of bipartisanship,” he said, adding separately that “if you can’t find bipartisanship on Covid-19, I don’t know where you can find it.”

Republicans devise their own plan

In recent days, it had become apparent to Republicans that the narrative taking hold suggested the Democrats had a plan for Covid relief and Republicans could either stand in the way or agree to it. They didn’t feel like there was a negotiating place for them to start and the frustration among Republicans was palpable.

As the week dragged on, one idea being floated was that they needed their own alternative to present to the White House. And most importantly, they needed 10 Republicans to be on board. One of the issues with the “Sweet 16” group is that they’ve only had 8 Republicans, which never was going to be enough to pass any bill. They needed 10 to show there were enough willing partners to give Democrats the 60 votes needed.

The letter’s other signatories include Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

One GOP aide familiar with the talks told CNN that the group worked all day Thursday and Friday, and by Saturday, they had broad agreement, but the details took time to figure out.

Any bipartisan plan will likely lose votes on the Democratic side, meaning for every progressive senator against the proposal, they’d need another Republican supporting it. Still, this idea of putting two plans side by side is one that aides and members have been discussing for several days as a way to force the conversation back to a bipartisan place.

A test of bipartisanship

The proposal will stand as an early test of Biden’s stated commitment to reaching across the aisle during his time as president. In his inaugural address earlier this month, the President called for bipartisanship and unity, something the Republican senators referenced in the opening of their letter, writing: “Heeding that important call, we welcome the opportunity to work with you in a bipartisan manner.”

The senators also requested a meeting with the President “to discuss our proposal in greater detail and how we can work together to meet the needs of the American people during this persistent pandemic,” adding that they “want to work in good faith.”

Brian Deese, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, confirmed on “State of the Union” on Sunday that the White House had received the letter and said they would be “reviewing it over the course of the day.”

“We’ve received the letter and we certainly will be reviewing it over the course of the day,” Deese said. “What I will say is that the provisions of the President’s plan, the American Rescue plan, were calibrated to the economic crisis that we face.”

The President, he added, is “uncompromising when it comes to the speed we need to act at to address this crisis.”

The proposal comes as Biden has suggested he’s open to passing major portions of his $1.9 trillion Covid relief proposal through a procedural tactic known as reconciliation if Republicans refuse to move on the measure. The maneuver — being pushed in part by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee — would mean the package would just need a simple Senate majority of 51 votes, rather than 60.

Portman told Bash the prospect of Democrats using reconciliation “is not in the interests of the Democratic Party,” arguing that “it will set President Biden down a path of partisanship that I think will poison the well for other bipartisanship we’ll need on so many issues.”

Biden’s proposed package expands on many of the proposals in Congress’ $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill from March and the $900 billion legislation from December, which was scaled back to garner bipartisan support in the Senate.

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester defended the cost of the Democratic plan Sunday, saying that although it’s a large amount, it is not too much, because the economic crisis caused by the pandemic is not improving.

“So, I don’t think $1.9 trillion, even though it is a boatload of money, is too much money,” Tester, who represents Montana, told CNN’s Abby Phillip on “Inside Politics.”

While Biden has said he is willing to consider less than $1.9 trillion in relief, White House officials made clear they are not interested in splitting up the legislation by getting a bipartisan vote on some aspects and then passing a separate package along party lines using reconciliation.

Asked Sunday if the White House was open to negotiating parts of Biden’s proposal, Deese told CNN they were “certainly open to ideas.”

“We welcome input to say where we may have not gotten everything right, where we could be more effective, certainly that’s part of the process as we go forward,” he said. “But what we really need to focus on now is what do we need to get this economy back on track and what are the resources necessary to do so.”

Cedric Richmond, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, also signaled that Biden is open to some type of compromise on a package, telling CBS on Sunday that the President wants “to work with both sides in order to help the American people.”

“He is very willing to meet with anyone to advance the agenda,” Richmond said.