NEW ORLEANS — It is early in the new administration, but a familiar friction between Democrats and Republicans is already playing out in the President’s proposed COVID relief package.
The ten Republicans who met with President Biden Monday are described as moderate Republicans. Among that group is Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.
“I’m not surprised that Democrats have come up with this huge $1.9 trillion program and Republicans are coming back with a package about a third of that size. That’s traditionally been the divide between the two parties,” University of New Orleans political scientist Ed Chervenak said.
Sen. Cassidy and the other nine Republicans are pushing for a scaled-down package. Chervenak said President Biden has been a longtime political moderate, so it makes sense he would meet with moderate Republicans.
That said, Chervenak said Sen. Cassidy does have to consider the overwhelming conservative nature of Louisiana.
“His goal is to walk that fine line, to be the moderate, to be the statesman, but also to make sure that his voters understand that he’s still among them in terms of partisanship,” Chervenak said.
On Fox News this weekend, Cassidy criticized the President’s plans to stop new oil and gas leases on federal territories and to raise the minimum wage.
“You don’t want bipartisanship, you want the patina of bipartisanship, but you want to stick it and ram it through. So that’s not unity,” Sen. Cassidy said.
While Monday’s meeting featured a moderate president and moderate Republicans, Chervenak said there’s a different dynamic in the House of Representatives.
“This attempt by the ten senators is a good attempt, but there’s still a divide, particularly in the House of Representatives. It’s almost a civil war between Democrats and Republicans at this point,” Chervenak said.
Democrats now have majorities in Congress. President Biden recently said while he would like the cooperation of Republicans, he’s prepared to pursue his COVID relief package without them.
If he follows through with that, Monday’s meeting may be more of a listening session rather than a negotiation.
