Lawmakers Grill Biden's Top Economic Adviser Over Proposed $1.9 Trillion "Stimulus" Package

Brian Deese

This is a small bit of good news---emphasis on small.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle confronted the Biden administration on its $1.9 trillion economic recovery package, lobbying the newly installed White House to take a more targeted approach, reports the New York Post.

I would prefer to see no package but a smaller package is better than the total unfunded crony spending plan.

The best-related comment came from Sen. Angus King (I-Maine).

“This isn’t Monopoly money,” he told reporters Sunday.

The confrontation itself took place in a conference call, also on Sunday, with White House economic adviser Brian Deese.

The call with Deese was organized by moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin. 

According to the Post, over a dozen senators took part in the 75-minute call, as did Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), who co-chair the House Problem Solvers Caucus.

In an interview with NPR, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) said more transparency was needed on how the last round of stimulus funding was used.

“I think that case can be better made when we get more transparency and better numbers about how the last $900 billion — much of which has started to go out — but I think the administration needs to be very transparent about how those dollars have been delivered,” the Virginia senator, who was also on the call, said.

The White House, to pass this particular legislation, must do so with some Republican support.

The Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, though Vice President Kamala Harris has a tie-breaking vote.

But, 51 votes is not enough under current Senate rules to break through the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 members to end debate on most topics and move forward to a vote, reports the Post.

And it looks like the filibuster is going to remain (at least for the time being).

The word from Mitch:

I’m glad that two Senate Democrats confirmed today they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster. They agree with President Biden and me on protecting the Senate.

With this win, we can move forward with a 50-50 power-sharing agreement built on the 2001 precedent. pic.twitter.com/fHUCFxxXh8

— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) January 26, 2021

-RW