Summary
The debate regarding a new COVID-19 relief package will intensify this week. President Joe Biden will meet this afternoon with a group of 10 Republicans, of which eight are members of the bipartisan group led by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-AK), to discuss their $600 billion counteroffer to Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are moving forward with a budget resolution to lay the procedural groundwork to pass Biden’s package through budget reconciliation. The House could unveil the resolution as soon as today.
While the $600 billion GOP proposal scraps Biden’s more partisan economic measures, such as the $15 minimum wage requirement, it mirrors Biden’s call for $160 billion to support COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution, testing and contact tracing, personal protective equipment production, and other public health measures. The proposal also matches Biden’s request for $4 billion to expand access to behavioral health services. The senators are slated to unveil additional details of their $600 billion proposal later today.
How Biden proceeds with his first major legislative initiative will likely set the tone for his legislative agenda over the next two years – incremental progress through bipartisanship or more sweeping changes through party-line votes. The highly anticipated Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act lawsuit (California v. Texas), which could arrive as soon as this Wednesday, will also shape Biden’s health care legacy.
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will convene two hearings on the COVID-19 response. Tomorrow, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will hear from state officials about issues concerning COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration, including the status of the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine supply, equitable allocation and prioritization, and other logistical obstacles. On Wednesday, the Health Subcommittee will examine the COVID-19 vaccine, testing, and medical supply chain, looking back at the Trump Administration’s response and discussing the Biden Administration’s actions thus far.
Additional confirmation hearings for Biden’s Cabinet nominees are slated for this week, but Xavier Becerra, Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), is still awaiting a hearing. Tomorrow, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee will consider the nomination of Thomas Vilsack to be Secretary of Agriculture. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will consider the nomination of Miguel Cardona for Secretary of Education on Wednesday and the nomination of Marty Walsh for Secretary of Labor on Thursday.