The Trump administration wants to send out checks in the next 2 weeks: 'Americans need cash now'

As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on the U.S. economy, the Trump administration says it's hoping to send checks to Americans within the next two weeks.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is working with Congress on an economic stimulus package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, said the administration aims to get money into Americans' pockets "quickly."

"We're looking at sending checks to Americans immediately," Mnuchin said. "Americans need cash now, and the president wants to get [them] cash now. And I mean now in the next two weeks."

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Mnuchin didn't specify an amount, but he suggested the checks would not go out to everyone, telling reporters, "we don't need to send people who make a million dollars a year checks." On Monday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah.) proposed sending all American adults a check of $1,000, which would be a one-time payment.

Trump in the press conference also said there are four or five ways to go about getting money to Americans amid the pandemic but that "we're going to do something that gets money to them as quickly as possible." One of those ways would be a payroll tax holiday, but Trump said this would "come over a period of months," whereas the administration wants to "do something much faster" than that.

"We'll have a pretty good idea by the end of the day of what we'll be doing," Trump said. "We're going big."