Pandemic relief dominated the Sunday morning political talk shows, with multiple guests weighing in on a letter from ten Senate Republicans proposing a framework for a compromise package.
The GOP senators in the letter released earlier Sunday urged President Biden to meet with them and discuss “how we can work together to meet the needs of the American people during this persistent pandemic.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said that he believed Senate Democrats have the votes to pass another COVID-19 relief package.
In an appearance on ABC's “This Week,” he was asked by host Martha Raddatz if he believed Democrats had enough votes as bipartisan support for a relief bill appears to dwindle.
“Yes, I believe that we do because it's hard for me to imagine any Democrat, no matter what state he or she may come from, who doesn't understand the need to go forward right now in an aggressive way to protect the working families of this country,” Sanders said.
“We want to get cash in the hands of families and businesses that need it the most,” National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said. “[We're] [c]ertainly open to figuring out if we can make that entire package as effective as possible."
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said on Sunday that the framework for a COVID-19 economic relief package unveiled by 10 Republican senators would cost $600 billion, less than half the price of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion proposal.
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman (R) said Sunday that Republicans will push the Biden administration to target direct payments to Americans making less than $50,000 per year in the upcoming COVID-19 stimulus package.
Michael Osterholm, a Biden transition team adviser on the coronavirus, said on Sunday the country has to “call an audible,” in regards to COVID-19 vaccine distribution, warning a new surge caused by the U.K. variant is likely to occur in the next few months.
A top adviser to President Biden indicated Sunday that the new administration is still hoping to see U.S. schools reopen for in-person learning by April, even in the face of new variants of COVID-19 detected in the U.S.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on Sunday that the Republican Party is not a “Trump first party,” adding that he believes support for former President Trump is separate from support from the GOP.
"I don’t think we ought to punish people from a disciplinary standpoint or party standpoint because they think something a little bit different,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) said.
