POOL

Washington - 2 February 2021

1. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sen. Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader:

"Here's where I think we're on on the budget. I talked to the president yesterday morning and then as all of you know and reported, he met with ten of our members for a couple of hours last night and at lunch we had the opportunity to talk to the members who were in the meeting, hoping that we could find a bipartisan way forward. Our members who were in the meeting, felt that the president seemed to be more interested in that than his staff did, or that it seems like the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate are. So here's where I think we're headed. It looks like the majority is going to have a vote on the motion to proceed to the budget this afternoon. They've chosen a totally partisan path. I can't remember a budget in the time that I've been here that either side has ever voted in a bipartisan way so we're off to a totally partisan start. I think that's unfortunate. I think our 10 members laid out a proposal that could have gotten broad bipartisan support and given the new administration a chance to get a bipartisan victory here early. But they are in the majority in the House and Senate. And life is a series of choices and they've chosen. So we'll go down that path. That means we'll be facing multiple amendments later in the week."

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4309124

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said GOP senators who met with President Joe Biden outlined a framework for a potential bipartisan approach on COVID-19 relief, but he criticized the Democrats for pressing ahead on their own.

He said he spoke to President Joe Biden ahead of his meeting with the 10 GOP senators.

“They've chosen a totally partisan path,” McConnell said. “That's unfortunate.”

The goal is to have COVID-19 relief approved by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires. Biden told a group of 10 Republican senators during a lengthy two-hour meeting late Monday that he's unwilling to settle on an insufficient coronavirus aid package after they pitched their slimmed down $618 billion proposal.

While no compromise was reached during the lengthy session, Biden's first with lawmakers at the White House, talks are privately underway on various alternatives. The president made it clear that he won't delay aid in hopes of winning GOP support.