The Biden administration rules out splitting its $1.9 trillion stimulus package into smaller bills, increasing odds that Democrats will pass it without GOP support

• The Biden White House said Thursday it was not dividing its $1.9 trillion stimulus plan into several parts.
• "We're not looking to split the package," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
• Democrats are preparing to start the reconciliation process next week, a maneuver to pass the plan without GOP votes.

The Biden administration on Thursday ruled out splitting its $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan into two, heightening the odds that Democrats would pass their package through a party-line majority vote using reconciliation.

"I just want to take the opportunity to be crystal clear: We're not looking to split the package. That is not a proposal from the White House," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference. "That is not where our focus is or where our intention is."

Psaki said the White House did not want to force lawmakers to prioritize one measure over the other, such as getting kids back to school or providing extra federal help to families struggling to pay for food.

"We're not going to do this in a piecemeal way or break apart a big package that's meant to address the crisis we're facing," she said.

The remarks come as bipartisan talks continue and Democrats set the stage to kick-start the reconciliation process next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats in her chamber were preparing to vote on the resolution, the first step in the process.

"By the end of the week, we will be finished with the budget resolution, which will be about reconciliation if we need it," Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. The Senate is also expected to vote on one during the same time frame.

The budgetary procedure requires only a simple majority in the Senate, which could be a hurdle since all 50 Democrats would need to support the relief package in the reconciliation process. Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaking vote in the chamber.

President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion emergency spending package includes provisions for $1,400 stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment insurance, a larger child tax credit, and assistance to state and local governments.

It also includes a $15 minimum wage, a measure that may not make it through the strict budgetary rules governing reconciliation. That component, along with its hefty price tag, has triggered intense Republican opposition.

"I don't think the administration has drafted a bill that they would think would be hugely a bipartisan success," Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Still, Democrats expressed confidence they could embark on a legislative maneuver that may end up being time-consuming as the economy flags. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that about 847,000 people filed for unemployment claims last week, a level that still outpaces the worst of the Great Recession a decade ago.

"We have to do it all together. It all fits together," Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters on Capitol Hill. "I have zero tolerance for delay."

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Thursday dodged questions on whether he supported the budget resolution, which lays out instructions for committees to start drafting legislative language for Biden's plan. The conservative Democrat told reporters several times: "We're going to make Joe Biden successful."

Progressive Democrats are prodding the Biden administration for a massive relief package as talks with Republicans continue. A group of 54 progressive House Democrats sent a letter to the White House urging it to consider recurring direct payments for the relief package.

Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who signed the letter, said in an interview that the Biden proposal was a "strong opening bid" and Democrats should avoid weakening it to get GOP votes.

"Susan Collins didn't get elected president," Khanna told Insider. "Everything the president put is his plan that he ran on, that he campaigned on, that he won the primary on, that he won the general election on - that was part of the Democratic Party platform."