President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met Tuesday with a handful of top U.S. chief executives to discuss the proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, as Democrats aim to rush the proposal through Congress.
JPMorgan Chase’s
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Jamie Dimon, Walmart’s
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Doug McMillon, Gap’s
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Sonia Syngal, Marvin Ellison of Lowe’s
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and Tom Donohue, the CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, attended the meeting, along with Vice President Kamala Harris.
In brief remarks in the Oval Office, Biden said the U.S. needs to move quickly on both combatting the coronavirus and rebuilding the economy, and that he wanted to hear the leaders’ thoughts about “how they think I’m approaching this issue, and to see if we can find some common ground.”
Biden’s proposal, dubbed the American Rescue Plan, would give $1,400 direct payments to individuals; $350 billion for state and local governments; and $70 billion for vaccines and testing, among other items.
Read: Dueling child-cash plans take center stage as coronavirus-aid outline takes shape
Dimon said in a statement after the meeting that the group had a “constructive and detailed conversation” that covered topics including “the urgent struggles of so many Americans, a path to sustainable and equitable economic recovery, and the future of American competitiveness.” Dimon said he looked forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats.
A Gap spokesperson said Syngal “emphasized a shared and urgent concern for the ways COVID has disproportionately impacted select communities, as more than half of U.S. jobs lost during COVID were held by women — the majority of whom are Black and Latinx.” Syngal commended the Biden administration’s efforts to mitigate COVID’s impacts, “particularly on women and communities of color, who make up the majority of our 100,000+ workforce as well as our customer base.”
Congressional Democrats have begun piecing together a package of the same size that largely follows Biden’s plan. Democratic leaders are hoping to get legislation to Biden by the middle of March, when emergency unemployment benefits are due to expire.
Now read: These are the key COVID-aid deadlines coming up as Democrats race to pass Biden’s plan
