For the latest wave of more than $908 billion in new crown epidemic relief being negotiated in Congress, sources say White House officials have asked House Republican congressmen to include in the package a new measure to issue $600 weekly cash relief checks.
White House spokesman Ben Williamson said in a statement on the 8th that while the amount cannot be determined at this time, providing cash checks directly to individuals “has always been a priority for the President. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also issued a statement on the evening of the 8th, saying that the White House has proposed a $916 billion bailout package to Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a bipartisan draft of the bailout plan last week that did not include bailout checks for the public. The Washington Post reports that sources familiar with the negotiations say the top of the GOP caucus has received concerns from White House officials.
Democratic members of Congress are generally supportive of renewed cash bailout checks for the public, and the demand has been growing recently.
According to sources who have had direct discussions with President Trump recently, Trump has privately disclosed that he is willing to support another cash bailout, capped at $2,000. In March of this year, when Congress passed the “New Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security Act” (CARES Act), the Treasury Department, in just a few weeks, issued $1,200 in cash relief checks for 100 million Americans and families, with Trump’s name on the checks.
During the negotiations, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont both argued that the cash bailout checks should be distributed again. Sanders even threatened to vote against the bill if it did not include the cash bailout checks.
Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois pointed out to the media that the inclusion of the cash bailout checks could result in other programs in the bill having to be cut, as the Republicans insisted that the overall size of the bill be kept under $1 trillion.
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