WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will on Wednesday meet congressional Democrats preparing to advance his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan despite Republican pushback.
A Democrat himself, Biden will call into the weekly meeting of Democratic representatives and later meet Democratic senators in the Oval Office, the White House said in a statement.
Congressional Democrats on Tuesday took their first steps to fast-track the massive aid package, voting in both chambers to open debate on a spending resolution that would give them a legislative tool to pass the relief without Republican support.
Democrats are pushing a new round of direct payments to individual Americans to help stimulate an economy ravaged by efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic which has killed nearly 450,000 people nationwide.
Biden met a group of 10 moderate Republican senators on Monday and had said he wanted to garner bipartisan support for his plan, which includes more money for vaccines and additional unemployment benefits.
But Republicans overall have balked at the price tag and pointed to the $4 trillion in COVID-19 aid passed last year.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Howard Goller)
