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President Joe Biden’s first Covid-19 package is already facing hurdles in Congress that threaten to force the fledgling administration to curb some of its more progressive aims just one week after the proposal’s debut. Early critiques from Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah, two members of the bipartisan group of senators who crafted the framework for December’s stimulus package, challenged the $1.9 trillion plan. (Franck and Pramuk, 1/21)

Senate Republicans vowed Thursday that President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief bill will not get 60 votes, daring the White House to either compromise with the GOP or use partisan procedural tactics to evade their filibuster. Put simply, the Senate GOP says Biden’s proposal spends too much money and comes too soon on the heels of Congress’ $900 billion stimulus package from last month. And that unless the proposal has major changes made to it or Democrats use budget reconciliation to pass it with a simple majority, it is doomed on the Senate floor. (Everett, 1/21)

Republicans are pushing back against President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that aims to give state and local governments a “budget bailout” from financial mismanagement in Democratic -- or "blue" states. Part of Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” will dedicate $350 billion to states in an effort to alleviate higher costs and lower tax revenues during the pandemic. Democrats have been urging this move for months now, warning that they will have to make cuts to education programs, safety and public health. (Park, 1/21)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that House Democrats will move immediately on a massive coronavirus relief package, setting the stage for an early showdown in the newly flipped Senate over the chief legislative priority of the nascent Biden administration. House Democrats have rearranged their schedule over the next two weeks, scrapping votes next week to allow the relevant committees to consider the various provisions of their emerging COVID-19 relief package. Pelosi suggested that package could hit the House floor as early as the week of Feb. 1. (Lillis, 1/21)

Though President Joe Biden rolled out a $1.9 trillion relief proposal last week, big questions have yet to be settled in the Capitol, including what exactly Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will put forward, if Republicans will participate in negotiations or even when Congress will act. What Biden, Pelosi and Schumer decide — and how much GOP cooperation they get — will do much to shape the direction of Democrats' first opportunity to govern in a decade. “I can’t imagine a president coming under, coming in under more difficult circumstances,” Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) told reporters just after the inauguration ceremony. “But I know it’s not just on him, you know, we got to do our part in the Congress.” (Caygle, Ferris and Emma, 1/21)

A bipartisan group of 16 senators is expected to speak this weekend with a White House aide about coronavirus relief. The phone call with National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, confirmed by a source familiar with the plan, is expected to be used to discuss President Biden's roughly $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal. (Carney, 1/21)

The House of Representatives will prepare to vote on a COVID-19 relief bill -- which is widely expected to contain a third stimulus check for up to $1,400 per person -- as early as the week of Feb. 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday in a press conference: "We will be doing our committee work all next week so that we are completely ready to go to the floor when we come back." (Dolcourt, 1/21)