The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress pushed ahead on Wednesday with a maneuver to pass President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package without Republican support, as the White House said it was flexible on a key element of the plan.
Biden told Democrats he would consider tighter limits on who would qualify for $1,400 checks, although he said he would not compromise on the size of the payments. That could possibly narrow the gap between his package and the $600 billion Republican proposal.
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(CNN) President Joe Biden will on Monday meet with 10 Republican senators who have drawn up a smaller counter-proposal to his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan in the most critical test yet of his core promise to forge unity over bitter partisan lines.
But hopes for a rare bipartisan deal at the start of a new administration still look doubtful because the offer pushed by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and her colleagues has a potentially fatal catch. It is less than a third of the size of the economic shock treatment the White House says the nation needs.
Biden s original legislation proposes direct payments to most Americans and extends unemployment benefits until September as it seeks to plug a huge hole in the economy caused by the pandemic. It also raises the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, fulfilling a major campaign promise. The plan provides hundreds of billions of dollars to expand COVID-19 testing, to improve the rollout of vaccines and to g