Biden, two sources familiar with the call, said Collins was raising his voice, speaking freely with her and leaving Republicans with a clear impression that he was willing to accept the deal with the GOP.
But in an exchange of housing funding in the proposal by Collins and White House economic adviser Brian Deez – and Senate Republicans claim that despite the money owed there, the call quickly turned south after White House employees made the proposal.
The final result: no deal, confirming Biden’s view that the Republican approach was too insignificant for the economic and public health crisis at hand.
But Republicans, beset by a lack of progress in short-term bilateral negotiations, look to a president who is harassing both White House staff and congressional Democrats, whom he believes is a GOP. They have less interest in working together and they are more eager. Advances their agenda regardless of the minority party. Republicans argue: Biden seems willing to cut the deal but won’t because of pressure from those around him.
“They seemed more willing than their staff to negotiate,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who met with Biden and a group of GOP senators earlier this month.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says the message is that Republican senators who have negotiated with Biden have also gone with him.
McConnell said earlier this month that “our members at the meeting felt that the president was more interested in this than his staff – or that there was a democratic leadership in the House and Senate.”
White House officials have returned to the idea that Biden’s aides are binding him by adopting a more bipartisan approach to imaginary relief, and the president told Collins and other Republicans during a meeting of the Oval Office fees that his proposal was lacking.
On Friday, Biden said during a visit to a Pfizer facility in Michigan that while he was open to working with Republicans to make the bill “cheaper,” he was unwilling to compromise further on its content.
“What would they have cut me off? What would they have left me?” He asked forcefully.
A White House official said Biden has been “consistent” in his private conversations with lawmakers about the need to “grow up,” and argues that while he is “open to the public,” with Republicans, he believes the Republican group Put forward this month is insufficient, and in any negotiations surrounding this bill it does not stick to this point of view. “
Democrats are moving forward
Democrats say they have learned perfectly well from past mistakes, including the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency, arguing that months of negotiating with Republicans eventually lead to a policy they believe is watered down. Cutting deals with POP senators will almost certainly divide Democrats in the House, which Democratic leaders in Congress are keen to avoid.
Since then, the Senate has been preparing to take the bill with Democratic leaders, who indicated they would bypass Senate committees and take direct action on the bill in an effort to get Congress to pass the bill in early March.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told his Democratic allies that they were “on track” to pass a 1. 1.9 trillion bill by March 14 when unemployment benefits are about to expire.
“If Republicans are willing to work with Democrats on constructive reforms that would amend the bill, we’re ready to work,” Schumer said.
“Nevertheless, we must not let Republican obstructionism deter us from our goal of delivering aid to Americans who desperately need this relief.”
Although Republicans criticize Biden for going it alone, Democrats say the G.O.P. The required price tag did not come close.
Prior to the White House meeting with Biden, Collins and nine other Republicans, the president introduced a $ 600 billion counterpart to the president’s 1.9 trillion bill, which Democrats immediately dismissed as insufficient.
G.O.P. The plan included 160 160 billion for vaccinations, an expansion of federal unemployment benefits and an investigation into the relief argued by Republicans to accommodate those most in need. He also avoided controversial ideas such as raising the minimum wage to 15, which is opposed by Republicans.
Republicans are now warning that what could be Biden’s first major achievement would come without almost any GOP support.
“If it goes ahead without the changes originally proposed, I would guess not a single Republican would support the 1.9 trillion plan,” said Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.
Kevin Liptk contributed to this report.
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