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| - US President Joe Biden was set to meet Monday with a group of Republican senators who have proposed an alternative to his massive Covid-19 relief plan which excludes key programs Democrats consider essential. Biden, who campaigned on restoring bipartisanship in Washington, has proposed spending $1.9 trillion to revitalize the world's largest economy after the pandemic caused waves of layoffs last year, but Republicans in Congress have said they won't support such a large package. On Sunday, a group of 10 Republicans unveiled a measure costing $600 billion, and Biden was to meet with them Monday in what White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki described as "an opportunity to exchange ideas." "What this meeting is not is a forum for the president to make or accept the offer," she told reporters. An outline of the Republican bill shows it excludes aid to state and local governments that Democrats say any package must have, and also lowers the amount of stimulus checks from the $1,400 Biden has proposed to $1,000, while also tightening eligibility. The senators have said they want to work in good faith with Biden, but the proposal as written appeared unlikely to find support from lawmakers in his Democratic party, and the president on Monday continued to promote his own plan. "We're facing an economic crisis brought on by a public health crisis, and we need urgent action to combat both," Biden tweeted. "My American Rescue Plan will dig us out of the depths of these crises and put our nation on a path to build back better." In a sign of the economy's ill health, the government last week said that the number of new applications for unemployment aid received each week was at 1.3 million, an enormous number 10 months after business shutdowns began in response to the pandemic. It also released data showing the country last year suffered its worst contraction since 1946, with the economy shrinking 3.5 percent. Yet it may be bouncing back faster than expected. On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office said it expected GDP to reach its pre-pandemic level by the middle of this year "in large part because the downturn was not as severe as expected and because the first stage of the recovery took place sooner and was stronger than expected." However employment will take longer to recover, and while the nonpartisan office serving Congress expected the unemployment rate to gradually decline through 2026, it did not forecast when it would return to the historically low level it hit before the pandemic. Biden has argued the massive plan he unveiled on January 14 is urgently needed to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control and pull the nation out of a deep economic slump. The package would pay for another round of stimulus checks and help schools safely reopen, accelerate Covid-19 testing and vaccine distribution, financially support small businesses and increase food aid for those in need. Republicans say the bill is far too costly at a time of historic debt levels, and with Congress having already committed some $4 trillion to pandemic relief, including $900 billion in December. They want aid more closely targeted to those in need. Their plan's outline shows it apportions a total of $160 billion to fight the pandemic, including $20 billion for a national vaccine program and $50 billion to expand testing. It also includes $132 billion to extend emergency unemployment provisions through June, but whereas Biden's proposal includes $350 billion in state and local aid, the Republicans' includes zero. Their plan is backed by 10 senators including party heavyweights like Mitt Romney, the 2012 candidate for president, and Rob Portman, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget. If Biden is to achieve his goal of bipartisanship, such a group could prove crucial. If Senate Democrats hold together, 10 Republican votes would give them enough support to pass the president's plan under normal procedure, which requires 60 out of 100 votes. Democrats have said they will otherwise turn to a process known as reconciliation, which would allow passage with a simple majority. cs/rl
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