White House economist rejects GOP senators' push for $1,000 stimulus checks instead of $1,400
- A White House advisor says he thinks Joe Biden will deny GOP requests for smaller relief checks.
- Biden is seeking $1,400 payments in his COVID-19 relief plan, but Republicans want $1,000 checks.
- Democrats are preparing to pass Biden's $1.9 trillion plan without GOP support if necessary.
A White House economist on Monday night knocked back a Republican proposal for relief payments of $1,000, characterizing it as too little to satisfy President Joe Biden.
Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, said Biden would want more than the offer from 10 Republican senators. Biden is pushing for $1,400 payments.
Speaking with the MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, Bernstein discussed Biden's Monday-evening meeting with the group of moderate GOP senators seeking to broker a bipartisan stimulus deal.
Bernstein highlighted differences between the parties, with the size of direct payments one of the issues.
While Biden wants checks of $1,400 as part of his $1.9 trillion stimulus deal, the 10 GOP senators back a much smaller $600 billion relief bill. That plan includes smaller payments, worth $1,000 each, and would send them to fewer people based on income.
Bernstein said there was common ground between the White House and the GOP senators on aid for businesses and "some agreement on addressing the COVID crisis."
But he said key differences remained. Referring to the direct payments, he said, "I believe, from some comments coming out of the White House tonight, they're scaled back at a level that the president would judge to be too far."
The New York Times said Biden aides had indicated the income-based eligibility for the direct payments was up for negotiation.
Bloomberg also reported Monday that the size of the payments, as well as the eligibility criteria to receive them, was divisive inside the White House.
Bernstein made it clear in his comments to MSNBC that the GOP proposal, however, was scaled back too much.
Some Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have expressed skepticism about the size of the bill and advocate more targeted relief.
Though Biden is seeking to negotiate a bipartisan deal, Democrats have prepared the ground to pass the $1.9 trillion package without GOP support if necessary, using a mechanism called budget reconciliation.
Using that mechanism, Democrats could pass a bill without any Republican support.
Bernstein on Monday said Biden was happy to discuss the bill with Republicans but would "not settle for any package that fails to meet this moment with the magnitude to finally knock COVID back on its feet, get it behind us, and launch a robust and inclusive and a racially equitable recovery."