A group of 10 Republican senators has a proposed an alternative to the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan of US President Joe Biden, as they wrote to the 78-year-old Democrat that their alternate plan would give him the bipartisan support he seeks, AFP reports.

Senator Susan Collins on Twitter said she has joined the group of Republicans, which has asked Biden for a meeting on Friday to discuss their COVID-19 stimulus plan. The moderate Republican Senator from Maine added they would release the details on Monday.

Biden is “open to ideas,” director of his National Economic Council, Brian Deese told CNN, adding that they have received the Republicans’ letter and they will be “certainly” reviewing it. He stressed that action is needed immediately. 

The economic crisis in the US brought by the COVID-19 pandemic has left some 30 million people without enough food on their plate, Deese said. He added that Biden’s stimulus package has been “calibrated to the economic crisis” that Americans are facing. 

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The President has said that his COVID-19 stimulus package, which Biden unveiled on January 14 is yet to be cleared by the US Senate, would provide checks to families, funds to help schools to reopen safely, money to accelerate the testing of COVID-19 samples, vaccine distribution, financial support for struggling small businesses and increased food aid for those in need. 

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Biden wants early approval for his plan, which he says will help to bring the pandemic under control and help pull the country out of a deep economic slump.

Meanwhile, Republicans debate that the proposed package by Biden is far too costly at a time when the US is already under a historic debt and as Congress has already committed some $4 trillion to pandemic relief. They want the COVID-19 aid more closely targeted to those in need, reports AFP. 

Moreover, Republican senators also want a separate vote on raising the federal minimum that would boost Biden’s plan from $7.25 to $15, according to AFP. 

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If Senate Democrats hold together in support of Biden’s plan, the 10 Republican senators would give them enough support to pass the bill under a normal procedure that requires 60 out of 100 votes.

The Democrats control 50 seats in the upper chamber, but ties are broken by Vice President Kamala Harris. They also hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

Biden said on Friday that “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But COVID relief has to pass. There’s no ifs, ands or buts.”