Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that badly needed direct Covid-19 relief payments were being paid out as early as Tuesday night.
What We Know:
- The Trump administration began sending stimulus payments of up to $600 to millions of Americans on Tuesday evening as part of the recently passed Covid relief bill. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government would begin the process of mailing out paper checks on Wednesday for individuals without government-registered bank accounts. The deposits start as some in the Senate try to pass legislation that would increase direct payments in the year-end coronavirus relief package to $2,000, according to MSN News.
.@USTreasury has delivered a payment file to the @FederalReserve for Americans’ Economic Impact Payments. These payments may begin to arrive in some accounts by direct deposit as early as tonight and will continue into next week (1/2)
— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) December 29, 2020
- Mnuchin said that beginning later this week, people expecting to receive payments can check their statuses at its Get My Payment page. He said the Treasury Department and the IRS were “working with unprecedented speed” to get the checks out. “These payments are an integral part of our commitment to providing vital additional economic relief to the American people during this unprecedented time,” he said in a statement.
- Under the terms in the bill, individuals who made up to $75,000 in 2019 will get up to $600. Married couples who earned up to $150,000 will get up to $1,200. Filers listed as the head of household who earned $112,500 or less will also get up to $600. Families will also get an additional $600, up from $500 in the spring, for each dependent under 18 years old in their households.
- The House passed a bill Monday to sign off on higher payments, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried to pass in the Senate on Tuesday using a mechanism known as unanimous consent. The bid failed when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., objected.
Democrats are pushing McConnell to put the House bill up for a standalone vote in the coming days, according to Yahoo News.
