Stimulus Package

Just under half of Americans support pushing through the $1.9 trillion package without GOP backing.

According to the Senate Finance Committee, Congress is expected to order the IRS to use either 2019 or 2020 income to determine eligibility when checks are ready to be distributed.

"Hopefully in two weeks time we'll send something over to the Senate and this will be done long before the expiration of initiatives," the House Speaker said.

The proposed bill would provide a direct payment of $1,400 to adults and an additional $1,400 to any dependents.

"What Republicans have proposed is either to do nothing or not enough," the president said after his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package was passed by the Senate on Friday morning.

The West Virginia Democrat has suggested that a figure between the president's proposal and that put forward by GOP senators could be agreed upon.

Corporate lobbyists are pressing Democrats to limit eligibility for stimulus checks, even as new census data show nearly half of middle class families lost income during the pandemic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that Democratic leaders had hoped to have an answer by now of whether the minimum wage hike will be allowed.

"Now is the time to renew our commitment to families to help them meet the challenges they face," the Utah Republican senator said.

Among the common scams are fake checks, which "can take weeks to be discovered and untangled," the Federal Trade Commission warns.

President Joe Biden won't negotiate on the $1,400 payment amount, but said he's open to reducing the number of people who are eligible.

Polling has shown support for criteria to receive relief payments staying the same as well as backing for higher amounts, despite Republicans pushing to shift the goalposts.

The Democratic senator said he would support $1,400 checks being restricted to those earning $50,000 or less.

The president has insisted he wants to "go big" on relief, but also wants to ensure bipartisan support for a further package.

The survey's results come as some Republican lawmakers in Congress are trying to block the president's efforts to provide the $1,400 payments in his relief plan.

There is continued debate over another round of direct payments being sent out, with President Joe Biden having advocated for $1,400 per person.

"I will only support moving in a bipartisan way," said the Democratic senator from West Virginia.

"This support from the federal government must be large and sustained until the pandemic is under control and Americans can resume normal work," a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers said.

If a third stimulus check is based on a person's most recent tax return, making more or less money in 2020 could change how much a person receives.

Two proposals in California would send stimulus checks to immigrants left out of federal relief. One has payments at $600 and one boosts stimulus checks to $1,800.

President Joe Biden has recently met with Republican senators to discuss a bipartisan route forward on COVID-19 relief.

The economic analysis was released last week amid a push by the GOP to limit eligibility for COVID stimulus checks.

The president met with 10 Republican senators on Monday, who are proposing a pared down package they feel can muster bipartisan support.

GOP senators offer a new COVID-19 relief framework that would limit stimulus checks to $1,000 and cut off aid to millions more Americans.

A group of 10 Republicans want a bipartisan stimulus bill less than a third the size of what President Joe Biden has put forward.

"With what we've got going on in this country, if we actually throw away some money right now, so what?" said the Republican governor.

Kamala Harris supported recurring payments, and restaurant owner Stephanie Bodin, a creator of a Change.org petition, called for people to maintain pressure on legislators.

Ten Republican lawmakers will meet with Biden on Monday afternoon to pitch their scaled-back proposal for economic relief—a $600 billion bill that is roughly one-third of the president's.

While few Americans have gone untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is undeniable that its economic impacts have not affected us all equally.

The president has spoken of his desire for bipartisanship, though some Democrats have suggested taking routes to move forward without Republican support.