Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the Trump administration is backing another round of stimulus checks to millions of Americans as part of another coronavirus relief package.
Congress has done nothing to directly help Americans since a first wave of stimulus checks went out in April, but Mnuchin said the administration is working “on a bipartisan basis with Republicans and Democrats” to get to an agreement. He said it’s a “priority” to have legislation passed by July 20.
“We do support another round of economic impact payments,” Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC. “We’re discussing the criteria with the Senate, and had a productive talk with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
Mnuchin did not provide specific details.
President Trump has expressed support for another round of stimulus checks, which he implied could be larger than the $1,200 per person that millions of Americans received this spring.
Trump late last month said the next stimulus package would be “very generous” and would be announced in “a couple of weeks.”
Trump spoke of a second stimulus during an interview with Joe St. George, Washington correspondent for Scripps:
ST. GEORGE: I have a lot of viewers in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, who are still struggling economically, sir. They spent all of that first stimulus check. Are you going to get them a second stimulus check?
TRUMP: Yeah, we are. We are. Look we had this —
ST. GEORGE: When? When are you going to get it?
TRUMP: We had this going better than anybody’s ever seen before. We had the best job numbers, the best economics, the best economy we’ve ever had, and then we had the virus come in from China. Now we’re rebuilding it again. We will be doing another stimulus package. It’ll be very good; it’ll be very generous, and people—
ST. GEORGE: How much? People want to know.
TRUMP: You’ll find out about it. You’ll find out.
The House has already passed a bill that calls for a stimulus check similar to the one available in the Cares Act — a $1,200 check for adults and as many as three child dependents. That means a family of two adults and three children would qualify for a $6,000 stimulus check. But the price tag is a hefty $3 trillion.
The bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, where McConnell is looking for a lower price tag, around $1 trillion. Both sides are expected to renew negotiations soon.
Under the Cares Act, individuals were eligible for payments of 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 for individuals with incomes over $99,000.
Married couples with combined incomes of up to $150,000 received $2,400, subject to the same phase-out that applied to individuals. The payments were phased out entirely for couples making $198,000 or more. Families also got $500 per dependent child under the age of 16.