Congress is tightening the eligibility requirements for the next stimulus check as it drafts its $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bill.
President Biden is proposing a $ 1,400 incentive check as part of his plan to be used as a framework for the legislation on Capitol Hill. Democrats promised that if they won the second election in Georgia, and the majority of the Senate, they would soon provide more aid.
But there is debate about making the third round of checks more targeted amid bipartisan concerns that, without change, high-income households that were previously ineligible could receive some form of payment.
Leader of the majority of the house Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer Minimum Wages Encourage Democratic Divide The Memo: Marjorie Taylor Greene Won’t Sneak Away Here Are The 11 Republicans Who Voted To Remove Greene From House Committees MORE (D-Md.) Said the thresholds for the next round of stimulus controls can be adjusted and discussed.
“I think most people have raised this issue, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. I honestly think that’s right, ”Hoyer said. “I don’t want to speculate on the figure or a figure, but I think it might be considered for adjustment from the figure passed in December.”
Biden’s plan doesn’t detail the annual income ceiling to qualify for the full check, or how the amount of the payment would gradually decrease for people who are above that ceiling. But lawmakers are sending warning signs against sticking to the income caps and phasing out structure used during the first two rounds of scrutiny.
To indicate where the debate on Capitol Hill is likely to go, the Senate voted 99-1 in an all-night marathon session in support of tightening admission requirements to ensure that “higher-income taxpayers do not qualify. come “.
The amendment is not binding, but the widespread support is likely to put pressure on the legislators drafting the bill to make changes to gain enough support to pass the coronavirus aid package. Democrats are using reconciliation to pass the bill, a budget tool that allows them to bypass the legislative filibuster of 60 votes in the Senate and the need for GOP support.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Senator Jen PsakiGOP urges Biden to confirm US will keep embassy in Jerusalem Trump access to intelligence briefings will be determined by officials, White House says: White House report revives address weekly to push Biden agenda MORE Biden said Biden is holding on to the $ 1,400 amount for the next check, but is open to negotiate who is eligible and how the checks will be reduced for those over the limit for receiving a full check.
“It is the phase-out range that is… a variable that is under discussion in ongoing negotiations. No conclusion has been reached. But as the president has said, he’s open to that discussion, ” Jared Bernstein
Jared Bernstein The Memo: Bad Jobs Report Stimulates Biden Stimulus Case Over 200 Obama Officials Sign Letter Supporting Biden’s Stimulus Plan Biden Economic Adviser Calls Summers ‘Downright Wrong’ With Inflation Comments MORE, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters at a White House briefing.
But there is still no agreement on what changes should be made to the eligibility or structure of the controls.
Her. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) ManchinSanders Criticizes Democrats Willing to Cut Eligibility for Stimulus Checks The Memo: Bad Jobs Report Stimulates Stimulus Case Biden Biden Expects Minimum Wage Hike Will Be Scrapped From Final Buyout Payment MORE (DW.Va.), which offered the change to qualify, wants to change the structure of the checks so that no person who earns more than $ 75,000 per year or couples who earn more than $ 150,000 per year will receive a payment gets.
Manchin’s proposal would allow individuals to earn up to $ 50,000 and couples who earn up to $ 100,000 would make the payment of $ 1,400. After that, the amount would be phased out gradually until it hit a ceiling of $ 75,000 for individuals and $ 150,000 for couples, his office confirmed.
A group of Republicans has suggested going further by reducing the amount of the check from $ 1,400 to $ 1,000, with $ 500 for adult dependents and children. Individuals who earn up to $ 40,000 will receive a check for $ 1,000, with the total amount of the check tapped to $ 50,000.
While every senator except Sen. Rand Paul
Randal (Rand) Howard Paul Sunday Show Preview: Budget Resolution Paves the Way for 0.9 Trillion Stimulus; Senate Prepares For Impeachment Trial Five Takeaways From Budget Marathon Republican 2024 Hopefuls Draw Early Battle Lines For Post-Trump Era MORE (R-Ky.) Supporting the non-binding amendment aimed at the next round of emergency checks, the supporters acknowledged that the language had been intentionally left vague.
‘I think beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. It depends who you want to talk to. But I think the point of the amendment is that it’s negotiable so we can try to get some people on board, ”Sen. Jon Tester
Representatives of Jonathan (Jon) Tester Republican 2024 Draw Early Battle Lines for Post-Trump Era Minimum Wage Push Sparks Democratic Divisions Senate Democrats Approve Fiscal Resolution and Hit Coronavirus Bill MORE (D-Mont.) Told reporters.
Broader discussions have been held among senators about changing the phase-out structure.
An earlier proposal passed by the House of Representatives late last year provided for a check for $ 1,400 amid bipartisan support for increasing the $ 600 payment included in the year-end coronavirus package to $ 2,000 .
But while it increased the amount of money, it kept the structure for how payment was phased out. If the bill ended up being signed into law instead of getting stuck in the Senate, it would have resulted in some higher-income people who were previously ineligible getting some form of payment, but not a full check.
“I happen to agree that the Mnuchin formula on cash payments should be revised. The outcome of that Mnuchin formula was indefensible. … So yes, I would be open to that, ”Sen. Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin: minimum wage incites democratic divisions Senate Democrats pass budget resolution, coronavirus bill leads Cotton tries to pressure Democrats to expand Supreme Court MORE (D-Ill.) Told reporters, referring to the former Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin
Steven Mnuchin Senate Signals Widespread Support for More Targeted Coronavirus Controls Bipartisan Senators Call for More Targeted Emergency Checks Former Trump Officials Find Tough Job Market MORE.
But Democrats may also face resistance from lawmakers in both chambers as they try to adjust eligibility for the controls.
Chairman of the Senate Budgets Committee Bernie Sanders
Bernie SandersSanders criticizes Democrats who are willing to narrow the eligibility for incentive checks. Preview shows Sunday: Budget Resolution Clears Path to 0.9 Trillion Stimulus; Senate Prepares for Impeachment The Memo: Bad Jobs Report Boosts Biden’s Stimulus Case MORE (I-Vt.) Suggested he was open to changing the way checks were phased out, but that he would push for the same income ceilings for receiving a full check: $ 75,000 for individuals and $ 150,000 for couples.
“We don’t want people taking $ 300,000 or $ 400,000 off this,” he said.
Democrats have been campaigning for another round of direct checks for months when the Americans hand them control of both the House, Senate and White House for the first time in about a decade.
Biden noted during a phone call with House Democrats that one of the reasons he stuck to the $ 1,400 amount is because he “wouldn’t start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people.”
Asked about changes to the $ 1.9 trillion proposal, Sen. Ron Wyden
Ronald (Ron) Lee Wyden Five Things You Need To Know About Biden’s Relocation In Yemen Approves Budget Resolution For COVID-19 Package Warren To Join Financial Panel That Oversees Taxes And Health Care MORE (D-Ore.) Note the recent election that gave Democrats a 50-50 majority.
‘We have had a kind of referendum on our priorities. For example, that was what the race in the Georgia Senate was all about: getting those $ 2,000 checks out, ”said Wyden.
The two new senators from Georgia, Democrats Jon Ossoff
Jon Ossoff Susan Sarandon Condemns Democrats For ‘Bait And Switch’ To, 000 Emergency Checks Senate Signals Widespread Support For More Targeted Coronavirus Controls Two-Piece Senator Group Calls For More Targeted Emergency Checks MORE and Raphael Warnock
Raphael Warnock Susan Sarandon Hits Democrats for ‘Bait and Switch,’ 000 Checks for Emergency Aid Schiff Lobbying Newsom Appoints California AG: Reports Warren to Join Finance Panel That Oversees Taxes, Healthcare MORE, both campaigned for the distribution of the checks.
Ossoff, asking about changing the eligible income, urged his party to go big.
“I advocate that we grow up,” he said, “and that we give people as much direct help as possible.”