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Republicans Hold 'Useful' Meeting with Biden on New Virus Relief Aid

VOA News

   A group of Republicansenators held a "frank and very useful"
   meetingMondaywith President Joe Biden about a new round of coronavirus
   economic relief as congressional Democrats took steps to push ahead on
   a relief bill with or without Republican support.

   Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, told reporters
   following the Monday night meeting with Biden, "It was a very good
   exchange of views." However, she said the two sides did not reach an
   agreement on a bipartisan package.

   Collins along with nine other Republican senators met with Biden and
   Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in a two-hour meeting
   that went longer than expected.

   She said talks between the two sides would continue and said the
   senators were appreciative that Biden spent so much time with them in
   his first official meeting in the Oval Office.

   Biden and the lawmakers are far apart on how much should be spent on a
   relief deal, with the Democratic president proposing a $1.9 trillion
   package and the Republican lawmakers calling for a $618 billion deal.

   On the same day as Biden met with the Republican senators, House and
   Senate Democrats announced they would move ahead to approve Biden's
   package with a process that does not depend on Republican support for
   passage.

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