Sen. Bernie Sanders sought to reassure the country on Sunday about the fate of the COVID relief bill as bipartisan support for the measure looks dim.
Asked if Democrats have the votes to pass the bill, Sanders said: “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.”
“Look, all of us will have differences of opinion. This is a $1.9 trillion bill. I have differences and concerns about this bill,” Sanders said. “But at the end of the day, we’re going to support the President of the United States, and we’re going to come forward, and we’re going to do what the American people overwhelmingly want us to do. The polling is overwhelming. Republicans, Democrats, independents.”
President Biden has said he wanted the bill to be bipartisan but so far, no Republican has come forward to support the measure and he has indicated that he is willing to move ahead without their support.
On Sunday, ten Republicans senators led by Susan Collins and Bill Cassidy proposed other own COVID-19 relief bill that will pare down the $1.9 trillion in Biden’s plan to $600 billion.
