Schumer and Pelosi to meet with Biden on Friday
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are meeting Friday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the two most powerful Democrats in Congress. It's the first time Mr. Biden and Harris will see Pelosi and Schumer in person since they were projected to be the winners of the election.
The meeting will take place in Wilmington, Delaware.
The transition team did not release what they would be discussing. The president-elect spoke with Pelosi and Schumer last week, and according to a readout of that call, they discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the economy.
Earlier this week, Mr. Biden met with business and labor leaders and issued an urgent plea for Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pass an economic relief package.
"The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control," Mr. Biden said in remarks on Monday. "It's a conscious decision. It's a choice that we make."
Mr. Biden said Monday the American people are desperate for elected officials in both parties to "cooperate" and "deliver results" that alleviate the economic pain wrought by the pandemic. He called for Congress to "come together and pass a COVID-relief package" such as the Heroes Act, the $3 trillion package passed by the House in May. The measure, however, is a nonstarter in the GOP-led Senate, where Republicans have reached an impasse with their Democratic colleagues on the size and scope of the next economic relief bill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled he backs another stimulus package, noting in a November 4 press conference that he would like an aid deal to be passed before the end of the year.
But even if a package is passed during the so-called "lame duck" session — before the newly elected members of the Senate and the House take their seats in January, along with Mr. Biden — it is likely to be far smaller than the more than $2 trillion sought by Democrats, according to Wall Street analysts.
Bo Erickson, Caroline Linton, Melissa Quinn and Stefan Becket contributed to this report.
