Biden ‘Confident’ That Congress Will Pass Coronavirus Relief Package

 President elect Joe Biden said Friday he is "confident" the deeply divided Congress will come together to pass a coronavirus relief package this month, adding that such a measure is only a down payment toward a bigger effort needed to help the nation heal medically and financially from the pandemic.

Biden was cagey about conversations he has had with Capitol Hill lawmakers a month and a half before he is sworn in, dodging questions about whether he has spoken directly with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. But he said a "significant number of Democrats and Republicans" in the Senate are ready "to put together "a serious package that will keep us from going off the edge."

Biden acknowledged that the package – now at $908 billion – would not make everyone happy. But "if you insist on everything," the present-elect told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, noting his decades negotiating legislation in Washington, you "will get nothing."

Biden's optimism about a new era of bipartisanship was especially notable because he has just emerged from a painfully partisan election season which has the losing candidate, President Donald Trump, still insisting he won and suggesting he will skip Biden's inauguration and have his own rally instead to kick off a 2024 run.

Progressives have complained that the scaled-back package under consideration won't do enough to help the approximately 1 in 6 people who are behind on rent payments or are otherwise facing dire financial conditions. Biden said it was his understanding that direct payments of $1,200 to eligible taxpayers "may still be in play," but he underscored it would be a mistake to let the year pass doing nothing at all.

"This is a democracy," Biden said, and negotiators need to "find a sweet spot," even if it means moving "one direction that will get us a long way down the road but isn't the whole answer."

As a U.S. senator from Delaware during a less-contentious time, Biden is used to a Congress where lawmakers might publically posture but ultimately come to an agreement in private talks. As vice president, Biden was sent to Capitol Hill by President Barack Obama to negotiate budget deals – which Biden did, successfully.

He said he was determined to bring back an era of cooperation.

"We've got to take the vitriol out of politics," Biden said, adding that it was a message both political parties needed to heed.

Biden also committed to being inoculated, publicly, with the COVID-19 vaccine to help reassure people that it's safe and necessary, once vaccines are available. He acknowledged skepticism about the vaccine from some people – especially in minority communities, where, Biden noted, people are also more likely to die from the virus.

"Actions of presidents matter," Biden said, adding that African Americans and Hispanics know "I have never misrepresented anything to them." Three out of the four men who will be former presidents next year have also committed to get vaccinated publicly, Biden noted, referring to Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. "It's going to take some time to rebuild confidence in science."