Erica Werner

Powell’s comments come as Biden administration ups pressure on Congress to pass relief bill with massive funding for vaccines.

In a bracing floor speech, the longtime Republican leader said the minority would grind the chamber to a halt if the 60-vote supermajority requirement is eliminated.

The legislation includes a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks; an increase and extension of emergency unemployment benefits that are set to expire in mid-March; an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour; and hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments, schools, vaccine production and distribution, increased testing, and more.

The private Zoom call Sunday that included key centrist lawmakers from both parties was an early test of whether Biden’s relief plan has a chance of passing Congress with bipartisan backing.

Biden may find he can get a big plan or a bipartisan plan — but not both.

Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for treasury secretary, will urge lawmakers to “act big" on economic relief for the coronavirus pandemic as she appears before a Senate committee Tuesday morning for her confirmation hearing.

Newly inaugurated vice president Kamala D. Harris is expected to swear in the new senators Wednesday, along with her successor.

Democrats are plotting moving the relief package without Republican support, which would leave little room for error.

President-elect Joe Biden will arrive in Washington with an ambitious economic agenda topped with plans to prod Congress to pass a multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill aimed at stabilizing the teetering economy and halting the pandemic’s spread.

President-elect Joe Biden is preparing to unveil an emergency relief plan Thursday evening to combat the coronavirus and deliver direct aid to American families, with a major focus on boosting vaccine production and delivery as the pandemic continues its rampage.