Bernie Sanders Calls Joe Biden’s COVID Rescue Plan a “Very Strong First Installment”

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a statement on Thursday praising President-Elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Relief Plan.

“President-Elect Biden has put forth a very strong first installment of an emergency relief plan that will begin to provide desperately needed assistance to tens of millions of working families facing economic hardship during the pandemic," Sanders wrote.

He continued, noting that, "The president-elect’s COVID-relief plan includes many initiatives that the American people want and need, including increasing the $600 direct payments to $2,000, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. As the incoming Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I look forward to working with the president-elect and my colleagues in Congress to provide bold emergency relief to the American people as soon as possible.”

Sanders was elected to the Senate Budget Committee in January of 2015. In April of that same year, he became a Democratic candidate to become the President of the United States, before losing to Hillary Clinton. Since then, Sanders has remained a major player in the senate, and recently stated that he has big plans for the upcoming year.

Sanders told Politico, "While we must address the total irresponsibility of the president of the United States, we must absolutely move forward aggressively in dealing with the economic crisis facing working families today. … We have to start the process of rebuilding the economy and creating the millions of good-paying jobs that we need."

Part of doing so relies on working with President-Elect Joe Biden, who recently announced the first steps of his COVID-19 Relief Plan.

Biden announced a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan on Thursday, that he hopes will "turn the tide on the pandemic, speeding up the vaccine rollout and providing financial help to individuals, states and local governments and business struggling with the prolonged economic fallout."

The plan will include another $1400 stimulus payment to individuals, in addition to the $600 Americans have already received.