The Biden Administration has indicated that it will wait for a congressional proposal, after some Democrats expressed interest in assistance similar to the $1,400.
Although more than 70 members of Congress have pressed President Joe Biden to support a fourth stimulus check, he has not discussed the possibility.
The issue of a new stimulus package has been in the public eye for nearly a month, before the President unveiled his Plan for American Families, which was intended to integrate assistance similar to the $1,400 American Rescue Plan (ARP).
However, there is no concrete plan to approve a fourth stimulus check and the discussion of the issue between representatives and senators is in the realm of “rumors”, that is, there are no formal negotiations, congressional sources confirmed to this newspaper, who preferred not to be named.
Doubts grew after White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Biden Administration would “wait” to see what members of Congress propose on extra direct economic aid to Americans.
“We’re going to see what members of Congress propose,” Psaki said in response to a specific question at a press conference last week.
The official highlighted the $1.8 billion package proposed by President Biden aimed at families, where different direct benefits are contemplated, especially the Child Tax Credit, which would be extended to 2025 and would send $3,600 dollars a year per child under 6 years old and up to $3,000 dollars for children between 6 and 17 years old.
Paski, however, was blunt about the difficulty of stimulus checks. “Those are not free,” he settled, then yielded the floor to another reporter.
His position recalls that direct economic aid has a high cost for the finances, in addition to the fact that it is difficult to reach a consensus, as was demonstrated with the third check, which was questioned even by some Democrats, in addition to having been rejected by all the Republicans.
Why is the subject being talked about?
Rumors of a fourth stimulus check are intensifying, due to a Change.org petition – launched before the American Rescue Plan – asking Congress to give $2,000 a month to Americans to help remedy the economic blow caused by the pandemic. The initiative surpassed 2 million signatures.
The Change.org petition was started by Denver restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin, who highlights the difficulties her business and many others have faced as a result of the pandemic crisis. Bonin even celebrated the approval of the $1,400 check and now she can apply for direct assistance to her business because of a $28 billion fund that benefits bars, restaurants and similar establishments.
There are other rumors on social media and, in fact, USA Today did a ‘fact-check’ on a user’s Facebook post that indicated that during Memorial Day the fourth stimulus check would begin to be distributed, which was dismissed.
Specifically: there is no plan for a fourth stimulus check, much less would it be approved by Memorial Day.
It should be recalled that none of the Democratic leaders in Congress, Nancy Pelosi (California), Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer (New York), Senate Majority Leader, have publicly expressed themselves in favor of such extra economic aid.