Democrat Joe Biden has expressed support for the newly proposed $908 billion bipartisan stimulus plan. He said on Wednesday that this is just an initial amount as a bigger amount will be approved in his term.

Joe Biden
(Photo : Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Joe Biden speaks during an event to name his economic team at the Queen Theater.

The recently proposed $908 billion bipartisan stimulus plan is higher than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's $500 billion skinny bill and lower than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's $2.2 trillion demand.

The new stimulus is also half of the White House's $1.8 trillion offer before the election.

Read also: Some Democrats Face Backlash After Pelosi Rejects New Stimulus Offer 

Joe Biden Expressed Support to the $908 Billion Bipartisan Stimulus

Biden offered a blessing of sorts for the newly proposed stimulus bill that has strong bipartisan support. Republican and Democratic Senators proposed the $908 billion stimulus package on Tuesday.

According to a published report in Newsweek, it is a middle-of-the-road compromise to address the economic fallout. It is ironic that the new stimulus package smaller than the $1.8 trillion offer of the White House before the election is now being supported by the Democrats.

They could strike a larger amount a few months ago rather than expressing support to another version of the stimulus, which is just a little bit higher compared to McConnell's skinny bill. 

Biden expressed his support after Democratic leaders indicated their willingness to strike a deal to deliver a new relief package before the year ends. 

Biden said the $908 billion stimulus package "wouldn't be the answer, but it would be the immediate help for a lot of things." 

Read also: Stimulus Negotiation Speeds Up, Gains More Support 

Benefits Under the New Stimulus

The proposed $908 billion relief package includes the following measures:

  • $300 per week in unemployment benefits
  • $160 billion for state and local governments
  • Nearly $290 billion in aid for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program
  • $82 billion for schools
  • $45 billion for transportation agencies
  • $16 billion for coronavirus testing and vaccine distribution

It can be remembered that Pelosi rejected the $1.8 trillion offer of the White House before the election, saying it was insufficient to address the needs of millions of Americans. But now, she supports less than half of the White House offer. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of the stimulus negotiators, first expressed disinterest in the $908 billion, but he changed his mind a day later. 

He even released a statement with Pelosi as they expressed support on the new bipartisan stimulus plan, saying that the deal is "in the spirit of compromise."

"While we made a new offer to Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday, in the spirit of compromise we believe the bipartisan framework introduced by Senators yesterday should be used as a basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations," they noted in the statement.

They also assured that they would offer improvements, but they have to support the $908 billion stimulus proposal to act on the needs of Americans. 

Schumer also earlier rejected the proposal of the Trump administration even if the amount has already reached $1.8 trillion.