Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have reportedly informed the Trump administration that they support $600 stimulus checks for Americans in any new COVID-19 stimulus package.
McCarthy said he and McConnell backed the stimulus checks now included in the White House’s $916 billion compromise measure, Axios reported. The liberal political website said the inclusion of the checks was discussed Tuesday among McCarthy, McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
McConnell has opposed the checks for Americans and did not include them in a framework he released last week.
A bipartisan group of senators introduced last week called for $908 billion in COVID-19 relief, but that bill also did not include checks for Americans.
That bill would deliver another $160 billion to states and cities and $180 billion for unemployment insurance, two issues Democrats have pushed hard. The unemployment benefits would pay $300 per week for 18 weeks, retroactive to Dec. 1, which is half of what was included in the CARES Act passed in March.
The proposal would also set aside $288 billion for assistance to small businesses via the Paycheck Protection Program. In addition, the bill would free up $45 billion for transportation-related industries such as airlines and $16 billion for development of a COVID-19 vaccine development. Another $182 billion would be used for healthcare provider relief fund, education, student loans, housing assistance, nutrition, and agriculture programs and the U.S. Postal Service.
“This is a COVID emergency relief framework,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said last week, adding it would be “inexcusable” for Congress to adjourn without providing more aid. “It’s not the time for political brinkmanship. … This is going to get us through the most difficult times.”
Democrats and Republicans have been at loggerheads for months, with neither side compromising on their demands. In October, Trump said all lawmakers should agree on helping Americans.
“If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?” Trump tweeted on Oct. 7.
Under the first stimulus bill Congress passed in March, individuals were eligible for payments up to $1,200, but that amount declined for those with an adjusted gross income higher than $75,000 a year. The $1,200 payment dropped by 5% of every dollar above $75,000, or $50 for every $1,000. The benefit didn’t apply to individuals with incomes over $99,000.
Married couples with combined incomes up to $150,000 were eligible to receive $2,400, subject to the same phaseout that applied to individuals. The payments phased out entirely for couples making $198,000 or more. Families also got $500 per dependent child under the age of 16.
Approximately 120 million U.S. taxpayers qualified for direct payments from the federal government under the bill. But since then, Congress has offered no aid to Americans, only businesses and state and local governments.
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