一份新的白宫内部备忘录对政府的战略进行了幕后观察，以加大对共和党人的压力，让他们接受乔·拜登总统昂贵的COVID纾困提议，称共和党对他的美国救援计划的反对正在损害共和党，“在这个国家，这不是阻挠得到回报的时刻。”
白宫高级顾问迈克·多尼伦首先在给白宫高级职员的备忘录中写道:“似乎有一种日益增长的传统智慧，即共和党采取阻挠、党派和基础政治的姿态要么在政治上是明智的，要么在最坏的情况下是没有成本的。”报告由Axios和美国广播公司新闻获得。
“然而，有大量证据表明，事实恰恰相反:共和党走这条路在政治上是不明智的。这种方法不仅没有成本，反而对他们造成了相当大的伤害。”
在竞选白宫的整个过程中，拜登一再承诺要努力赢得共和党对他政策的支持。但在他的第一次立法努力中，尽管拜登政府和一些参议院共和党人正在进行对话，但还没有国会共和党人表示支持近2万亿美元的计划。
多尼伦备忘录中概述的战略已经成为政府公共信息的关键部分。
官员们一再指出，包括一些共和党人在内的大多数美国人在最近的一系列民意调查中支持这一政策，包括美国广播公司新闻/益普索民意调查显示，67%的美国人支持拜登对COVID-19大流行的处理。
“显然，国会中的共和党人将不得不就他们是否支持最终方案做出自己的选择。它仍在国会中进行，但绝大多数公众支持它，包括绝大多数成员的选民，所以这对他们来说确实是个问题，”白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)周二表示。
在备忘录中，多尼伦详细阐述了如何向共和党人提出这样一个论点，即如果他们不能同意这个计划，这可能会付出代价。
多尼伦认为:“共和党反对美国救援计划，这与美国人民压倒性支持的救援计划背道而驰。”。“反对ARP在政治上既不明智也不划算——它在政治上是孤立的。”
白宫一再强调拜登愿意就该计划进行谈判，但不会以在3月14日之前通过该法案为代价。此前的新冠肺炎救助法案的福利将于3月14日到期。
由于在参议院的微弱多数，民主党可以在没有两党支持的情况下通过这项措施。但马里兰州共和党州长拉里·霍根(Larry Hogan)上周在椭圆形办公室会见了拜登，他警告说，单干也可能带来政治风险。
“我对他说，你能做某事并不意味着你应该做。我说，我认为，如果他一开始就以两党合作的方式让一些共和党人加入进来，对他未来四年的议程是有好处的。如果你只是把它塞进喉咙，如果这是一个要么接受要么放弃的民主党法案...像基础设施建设或重建我们的经济这样的事情是不容易完成的，”霍根周日说。
Biden White House memo reveals strategy to pressure Republicans on COVID relief
A new internal White House memo gives a behind-the-scenes look into the administration's strategy to up the pressure on Republicans to get on board with President Joe Biden’s costly COVID relief proposal, arguing GOP opposition to his American Rescue Plan is damaging the GOP and that "this is not a moment in the country when obstructionism is rewarded."
"There seems to be a growing conventional wisdom that it is either politically smart – or, at worst, cost-free – for the GOP to adopt an obstructionist, partisan, base-politics posture,” White House Senior Adviser Mike Donilon wrote in the memo to White House senior staff, first reported by Axios and obtained by ABC News.
“However, there is lots of evidence that the opposite is true: that it isn’t politically smart for the GOP to be going down this road. And rather than being cost-free, this approach has been quite damaging to them."
Throughout his campaign for the White House, Biden repeatedly promised to work across the aisle to earn Republican support for his policies. But in his first legislative endeavor, no congressional Republicans yet have signaled support for the nearly $2 trillion plan, despite ongoing conversations between the Biden Administration and some Senate Republicans.
The strategy outlined in Donilon's memo has become a key part of the administration's public messaging.
Officials have repeatedly pointed to a majority of Americans, including some Republicans, who support the policy in a slate of recent polls, including an ABC News/Ipsos poll showing 67% of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Obviously, Republicans in Congress will have to make their own choice about whether they support the final package. It is still working its way through Congress but the vast majority of the public support it, including the vast majority of most members’ constituents, so it's really a question for them,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
In the memo, Donilon elaborates on how to make the argument to Republicans that if they fail to get on board with the plan, it could come at cost.
"By opposing the American Rescue Plan, the GOP is putting itself at odds with a rescue package supported overwhelmingly by the American people," Donilon argued. "Opposition to the ARP isn’t political smart or cost-free – it’s politically isolating."
The White House has repeatedly stressed Biden’s willingness to negotiate on the plan, but not at the expense of passing the bill before benefits from the previous COVID-19 relief bill expire on March 14.
With a slim majority in the Senate, Democrats can pass the measure without bipartisan support. But Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who met with Biden in the Oval Office last week, warned going it alone could also bring political perils.
"I said to him, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And I said that I thought that it was good for his agenda over the next four years if he started out by getting some Republicans on board in a bipartisan way. If you just jammed it down your throat, if it's a take-it-or-leave-it Democratic bill ... it's not going to be as easy to get things done, like on infrastructure or rebuilding our economy," Hogan said Sunday.
