Biden's top economic adviser soliciting 'input' on COVID-19 relief deal
National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce in the White House driveway Monday morning that lawmakers wanting a lower-priced COVID-19 proposal from Biden haven't said what that looks like but suggested there may be wiggle room on the amount of the direct payments to Americans.
In an appearance moments before on CNBC, Deese said a few times that the Biden administration is "looking for people's input," referring to negotiations with lawmakers over the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief deal.
After a phone call Sunday with 16 bipartisan senators and some representatives from the House Problem Solvers' Caucus, another senior administration official said "the feedback was constructive across the board" -- but on Tuesday, Deese seemed to be soliciting counter-proposals from Republicans to make the package more palatable to them.
"We welcome the focus on targeting, including from Republican members and those provisions should have broad bipartisan support," Deese said. "Certainly if there are ways to make that provision and other provisions more effective, that's something we're open to, that we'll have conversations about."
While Deese emphasized that the Biden administration is looking for ideas on how to tweak the package, he continued to emphasize the urgency to act soon. Biden said Monday he expects the negotiations could continue another "couple of weeks."
The White House on Monday morning updated Biden’s schedule to include 4:45 p.m. remarks “on the fight to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”
-ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce and Sarah Kolinovsky