Stimulus Package

The Treasury Department is "working tirelessly" to make sure people receive their $1,400 stimulus checks by the end of the month.

More Republicans were more familiar with the efforts to pull Dr. Seuss books due to racist imagery than the details of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package pushed by President Joe Biden, according to a new survey.

After Congress passes a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, President Joe Biden is expected to start building support around an infrastructure package that will create jobs and modernize the nation's crumbling transportation system.

The Senate majority leader criticized his Republican counterpart after he branded the president's COVID-19 relief plan "very liberal and purely partisan."

Under President Biden's proposal, families with youngsters under 6 years of age will enjoy up to $3,600 in child tax credit, raised from $2,000 yearly.

Republican Governor Jim Justice wants to eliminate personal income taxes in the state over the next few years.

The House on Tuesday evening passed a procedural motion to book two hours of debate starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday for the bill. Then a vote will follow.

"I'm very hopeful that by the beginning of next week, some relief can be realized," House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Tuesday while speaking about the proposed round of $1,400 direct payments.

"We're putting money directly into people's pockets—not in the pockets of billionaires and massive corporations," Representative Pramila Jayapal said.

But the New York congressman also said there's less waste in the legislation than many people believe—"less than $100 billion."

Eligible Americans could receive the $1,400 checks within a few weeks of the stimulus bill's final passage.

Gov. Jim Justice wants to phase out personal income taxes in the state starting with a 60 percent cut next year.

Senator Tom Cotton called sending checks to prisoners a "crazy" liberal plan on Monday after voting for it twice under ex-President Donald Trump.

A Mississippi pastor has claimed that the $1,400 stimulus checks in President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan are really the work of former President Donald Trump, calling the checks "an offering from our late president to every one of you."

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) proposed an amendment to the American Rescue Plan that would bar illegal immigrants from access to the $1,400 stimulus checks. The amendment failed.

Undocumented people cannot receive direct payments through the latest coronavirus relief package because individuals must have traditional social security numbers in order to qualify for checks.

"That would be horrible" if Americans thought he enjoyed the power, said the Democratic lawmaker. "I want to make sure people understand. I am in that common-sense middle."

The Senate approved the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with some changes that will impact direct payments, unemployment insurance and child tax credit.

The Senate has cleared President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID bill, titled the American Rescue Plan, almost a year after the $2 trillion CARES Act was signed into law.

"We need recurring payments," the Massachusetts senator said. "We will not stop until we pass at least a $15 federal minimum wage, and that includes abolishing the filibuster to ensure we give our workers a raise."

House progressives have indicated that they may withhold their votes for the sprawling bill to leverage the party into fighting harder for the $15 minimum wage.

The legislation will now be sent back to the House of Representatives for approval before it can be signed into law by the president—a process that lawmakers pledge will happen before March 14, when current unemployment benefits are set to expire.

The Democratic Michigan senator also criticized some of her Republican colleagues filing amendments that sought to cut the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

The process was stalled for 12 hours when Democrats couldn't agree on an amendment from Senator Bernie Sanders.

The deceased children's author has become a recent flashback in debates about so-called "cancel culture."

The original bill passed by the House offered an additional $400 weekly payment through August, while Republicans proposed a $300 payment through July. A third proposal offered a $300 payments through October.

Sen. Sullivan's father-in-law recently passed away, and he is flying back Friday evening to Fairbanks, Alaska for the funeral.

The House previously passed a version of the bill that would raise the weekly unemployment payments to $400.

"As a former governor, if the federal government is going to be handing out billions of dollars, I'm going to have my hand out to get as much as I can," Romney said.

In his arguments against the Democratic-led COVID-19 relief bill, Republican Sen. John Kennedy made an analogy referring to film mogul and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein.