New: 10 Republican senators write a letter asking to meet w/ Biden and discuss a Covid relief counter-proposal they’re working on. They say it’ll have $160b for vaccines, $4b for abuse services, existing UI, nutrition + unspecified policies on “targeted” economic aid and schools.
Notably, no Democrats are on this letter—it’s a GOP-only plan at a time when they’re in the minority in both chambers. It’s sure to face pushback from progressives who see $1.9T as a minimum. And it’ll test President Biden’s incompatible calls for going bold and being bipartisan.
The Republican letter comes as Dems are eying reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote rule on a Covid relief bill—it’s an attempt to steer Biden toward a different path. Schumer has insisted that going small isn’t an option.
What Biden told White House pool on Friday: “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to pass. There’s no ifs, ands or buts.”
Also of note: Getting 10 senators on a letter doesn’t equal 10 votes. There’s no full proposal or bill text. Only three of these signatories have a track record of crossing party lines on politically salient votes—cut it to two if the subject is economics.
Asked about the Covid-relief meeting request from GOP senators, a White House spokesperson tells @NBCNews that Biden has been regularly engaged with Democrats and Republicans in Congress and that those conversations will continue in the coming days. nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
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BIDEN has begun to staff his commission to review the structure of the courts. It’ll be co-chaired by Bob Bauer and Cristina Rodriguez, per a source familiar with @POTUS plans, who promises a “wide range of expert views” from across the spectrum. nbcnews.com/politics/polit…
Biden and Senate Democrats are quickly coalescing around a desire for more public defenders and fewer prosecutors or corporate lawyers on the bench. They have dozens of vacancies to fill—mostly in district courts—after Trump & McConnell raced to fill many. nbcnews.com/politics/polit…
There's some hesitation among Dems about pivoting to a party-line effort so soon. But that's increasingly where this is headed. Little appetite to cut down Biden's plan to add a "bipartisan" label to it.
Republicans say this defies Biden's "unity" pitch.
How far apart are the two parties on Covid relief? Miles. Democrats want Biden's $1.9T plan. Among Republicans, even the most moderate say that's far too big and want to limit this to vaccine distribution and reopening schools.
Scooplet here: Progressive group @accountable_us calls on @SenSchumer to NUKE the filibuster to pass a Senate organizing resolution if McConnell doesn't relent.
Democrats already run the Senate floor. But without an organizing resolution, Republicans still control the committees — an unusual power for a minority party. As a result, Biden's legislative agenda can't get off the ground. nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
The is a common progressive response to the “aren’t you worried what happens when Republicans take power?” question. A decade ago this consensus wasn’t there. Now many will say they’ve considered it and decided the tradeoff is worth it.
Progressive fear about ending the filibuster under Obama was an all-GOP gov’t would carve up the safety net, privatize Medicare and make Ryan budget law. Turns out that stuff wasn’t attempted or failed and/or backfired politically. Rightly or wrongly, movement’s attitude changed.
What might a future all-GOP gov’t do without a filibuster? A 20-week abortion ban would’ve passed under Trump. Border wall money would’ve passed. Gun rights could be expanded. Beyond that, tax cuts can bypass the 60-vote rule and much deregulation can be done by executive action.
NEW: Biden makes an urgent plea for unity to tackle the country’s problems. But Republicans have a different vision of unity: one where he doesn’t do things that upset their voters. And their voters want the party to oppose him.
Former Obama adviser @danpfeiffer: “There will be a tendency among many press and pundits to condense Biden's promise to heal the soul of the nation into nothing more than appeasing congressional Republicans. Team Biden will need to push back” nbcnews.com/politics/congr…