White House now reportedly pushing for $600 stimulus checks

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last updated 8 December 2020

The White House is reportedly on board with adding stimulus checks to the next COVID-19 relief bill, albeit not very big ones.

As of Tuesday, White House officials are pressing Senate Republicans to add $600 checks to the coronavirus relief bill currently being laid out in Congress, two people tell The Washington Post. The provision is popular among Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and a bipartisan group didn't include it in their stimulus proposals.

Congress granted $1,200 checks to Americans making under $100,000 back in March, but have yet to pass another round of direct payments since. The House, Senate, and White House also haven't agreed to a coronavirus relief package to replace the one that expired at the end of July, and now finally seem on track to pass something before the year ends. Leading Democrats are on board with a $908 billion package bipartisan senators drew up last week, while Trump has backed McConnell's smaller package.

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Regardless of which package moves forward, neither includes direct checks to Americans yet. President Trump has privately supported sending out checks up to $2,000, one person in direct communication with him told the Post. But White House officials have reportedly since settled on $600, and are throwing that proposal into the mix of provisions about state and local funding, small business relief, and more under debate this week.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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