January 22, 2021: COVID-19 Legislative Update
COVID-19 - January 22, 2021
Policy Resolution Group COVID-19 Legislative Update
January 22, 2021
The new COVID orders and memoranda are just one part of a broader suite of executive actions the Biden administration is rolling out in a deliberate, thematically choreographed fashion in its earliest days. And with the House on hiatus, the Senate in organizational flux, and the impeachment trial schedule up in the air, it stands to be the most significant policy action we will see in the coming weeks, with some hints as to how the Biden White House intends to approach the crisis differently than the previous administration.
The parade of Presidential actions plays out in the background of Biden's pursuit of additional congressional COVID response. Earlier this month, the Biden transition rolled out its “American Rescue Plan,” a $1.9 trillion outline for what it would like to see in the next bill. With a decidedly cool response from GOP moderates, Democrats are faced with a both strategic and more practical questions of how to proceed. Do they lower their sights and seek compromise through regular order? Do they unlock budget reconciliation and pursue procedurally viable elements of the plan on a partisan basis? Or, ultimately, can they, should they, and will they seek to change the filibuster rules to allow them to pass their agenda without minority obstruction?
They'll need to answer these questions in relatively short order, as a March 14th unemployment benefit cliff serves as the near term legislative forcing mechanism. Should they elect to use reconciliation, they must first craft a budget resolution instructing the various committees of jurisdiction to make specific changes to spending and revenue levels. Building such a consensus will take time, as will adopting a common resolution in both chambers, to say nothing of the process of writing and enacting the reconciliation package itself. In the meantime, these COVID-related actions provide both the structure for implementing the Biden strategy, as well as signals for how they intend to marshal federal resources toward that end.