10 Senate Republicans Outline $600B Counteroffer, Will Meet With Biden Monday

Ten Republican senators on Sunday requested a meeting with President Biden to detail a smaller counterproposal to his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, an alternative they believe could be approved "quickly by Congress with bipartisan support."

Later Sunday, Biden invited the senators to the White House. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. ET Monday, and the White House said it would focus on how Biden's plan "will deliver urgently needed relief to working families and small businesses, and speed up vaccinations and the reopening of schools."

"We appreciate the President's quick response to our letter, and we are pleased to accept his invitation to the White House ... to discuss the path forward for the sixth bipartisan COVID-19 relief package," the 10 senators said in a statement.

The outreach from more moderate GOP lawmakers, led by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, came as many Democrats look to a process called budget reconciliation, which would potentially enable Democrats to approve the president's plan without any Republican support.

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"We recognize your calls for unity and want to work in good faith with your Administration to meet the health, economic, and societal challenges of the COVID crisis," the GOP senators wrote in the original letter, dated Sunday.

Republicans have balked at the price tag of Biden's $1.9 trillion package, especially coming weeks after then-President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion relief measure into law. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who also signed the letter, told Fox News Sunday that the counterproposal would cost about $600 billion.