But some individual senators have introduced significantly narrower pieces of legislation intended to aid families. Senators Joni Ernst of Iowa and Mike Lee of Utah in 2019 introduced a paid parental leave plan. And Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri have both argued in favor of expanding the child tax credit to provide all but the wealthiest families with regular monthly checks.
However, those efforts have faced resistance from other Republicans, some of whom have chafed at any measures that might resemble “welfare assistance.” They also have yet to win the imprimatur of the party’s leaders.
On Wednesday, Mr. Romney expressed skepticism about the total cost of Mr. Biden’s package of economic proposals, calling it “a massive amount of spending.”
“Maybe if he were younger,” Mr. Romney told reporters, “I’d say his dad needs to take away the credit card.”
Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, took to the Senate floor to accuse Mr. Biden of pushing unnecessary “partisan policies.”
“When you think about infrastructure, you think about roads, you think about bridges, you think about broadband,” Mr. Tillis said. “You don’t think about human infrastructure, but that’s what’s being pitched today. And it’s being pitched on a partisan basis, without even attempting to get a single Republican vote.”
A prompt counterproposal is unlikely to come from the House, either. Top Republicans in that chamber selected members this week to begin drafting a broad array of legislation on jobs and the economy, “the future of American freedoms” and other issues that are expected to shape their agenda leading up to the midterm elections.