President Biden admonished the Republicans as they are not helping to support his $1.9 trillion relief plan that would help mitigate the economy, the spread of coronavirus and give stimulus checks to the beleaguered Americans.
Biden said, “I am going to act an act fast. I would like to be doing it with the support of the Republican.”
The president spoke at the White House after the senate passed his package with a 51-50 vote, with the Vice President Kamala Harris using her vote as a tie breaker.
He spoke after the Labor department released a report that day which said that only 49,000 jobs were added in January and only 6,000 were in the private sector.
He also held talks with Nancy Pelosi, Sten Hoyer and the Heads of House committees that will administer and implement the package deal.
The House of Representatives passed the senate measure in a similar manner with all representatives toeing in to party lines. Many Republicans believe that his package costs too much.
He thanked the lawmakers for passing a budget resolution with a provision that will allow the relief plan to pass through Congress without Republicans, if it so warranted.
The Republicans immediately replied saying that this would go against Biden’s call for unity.
The White House rejected this argument. Its press secretary Jen Psaki said that the President ran on unifying the country and putting forward ideas that would help the country face its crises.
She added that that he did not run on a promise to unite the Democratic and Republican Party into one party in Washington. She also added that a huge majority of the American public were in favor of the package.
Although the COVID relief plan is still in the planning stage, since the budget resolution was passed early in the morning, it can now become a law through a process called “reconciliation.”
Under the instructions of the budget resolution, the House and Senate committees have to write the stimulus legislation by February 16.
