Stimulus package status update: Who could get a $600 check, when Congress will vote – CNET

A second stimulus check has been plucked from the brink, as negotiators have reportedly agreed to include another direct payment in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package currently taking shape, after weeks of advancing proposals that dropped the extra funding. However, a second stimulus check is said to come in at half the $1,200 payment of the original check, a cap of $600 for eligible adults and their dependents, the The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Notably, the $600 stimulus money could also be earmarked for dependents of any age. The change, if it comes to pass, would potentially include up to 15 million new people who would count toward an extra $600 apiece per household, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

A vote for the $900 billion stimulus bill could arrive within days, according to reports, with the legislation starting in the House of Representatives before moving on to the Senate and then, if it passes both chambers, to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature.

“McConnell told Senate Republicans to be prepared to be here through the weekend to get COVID/spending bills done,” NBC News political correspondent Garrett Haake tweeted Wednesday.

“Sen. Joe Manchin estimates the Senate “probably” votes Saturday on COVID-omnibus package,” tweeted Hill writer Alex Bolton on Wednesday.

A coronavirus aid proposal before Jan. 1 is considered emergency legislation to institute a safety net for expiring benefits that could leave tens of million of unemployed Americans without an income and millions of households facing eviction. A sweeping deal like the $2 trillion CARES Act from March, which authorized a $1,200 stimulus check for most Americans, is more likely to return to the table in early 2021, top US leaders have implied. 

Read more: America is getting a new Congress: What that means for another stimulus check

President Donald Trump, too, has called for “more money than they’re talking about” in stimulus checks, and has continued to push for a second check in the final bill. 

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not say whether Trump would refuse to sign a stimulus package that didn’t include a second check, but said Tuesday that Trump “would really like to see those stimulus checks in there.”

Stimulus checks aren’t cheap. The IRS said this summer that it had spent $270 billion sending out 160 million checks, and on Monday, Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican who has been involved in crafting the bipartisan stimulus proposal, forecast a cost of $300 billion if the checks were once again included for $1,200 per person. Republicans reportedly bridled at the cost.

Though the clock is ticking, top US leaders appear committed to passing a stimulus deal. 

“Guess what, if we don’t do anything, a lot of people don’t have a home to go to this holiday season,” Manchin said Wednesday from the Senate floor. “Failure is not an option.”

“We’re not leaving here without a COVID package. It’s not gonna happen. We’re gonna stay here until we get a COVID package,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “No matter how long it takes, we’ll be here.”

Here’s what we know about where negotiations stand right now and what could happen before the end of the year.

Where did this new $900 billion stimulus package come from?

The $900 billion stimulus proposal is the latest variation of a $908 billion proposal from Dec. 1 that by Monday was split into two parts. The first is a core bill worth $748 billion, which contains the unemployment funding and other measures. The second is a $160 billion bill that carves off the two most contentious issues that could capsize an agreement: money for state, local and tribal funding on one hand; and a liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits on the other.

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Next stimulus checks: What to expect

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Neither lobe of the two-part stimulus deal contained a second stimulus check, but with the thorniest issues sloughed off, the key Democratic and Republican negotiators are seizing the monetary wiggle room to fund the popular stimulus check at a reduced rate. 

A smaller second stimulus check would be one way to keep costs below the $1 trillion cutoff that Republican lawmakers have in the past said they’d support. Last week, the White House offered a $918 billion plan with $600 maximum stimulus checks. That was rebuffed by Democratic leaders because the proposal also cut $300 in weekly federal unemployment insurance benefits that would help prop up jobseekers until April.

What happens with a stimulus package next?

First, the stimulus bill would need to pass the House and Senate. If both chambers are working together on a deal now, there’s a good chance that would happen. Next, Trump would need to sign the rescue bill into law. After that, aid would likely begin to go out within weeks, with certain groups possibly receiving financial help before the end of 2020.

If a bill does pass that includes a direct payment, here’s how quickly we think the IRS could send a second stimulus check.

Will there be another stimulus package in 2021?

Biden, McConnell and others have repeatedly described this December legislation as emergency relieve instead of a sweeping economic stimulus package, and have committed to another stimulus bill in 2021.

“It’s a down payment,” Biden said Dec. 16. “An important down payment on what’s going to have to be done at the end of January and into February. But it’s very important to get done.”

Here’s everything we know right now about the chances of a third stimulus check in 2021.

For more information about stimulus checks, here’s how soon you might get your second stimulus check now, what you should do to speed up the delivery of a potential second check, and what to know about the HEALS, CARES and Heroes stimulus bill proposals that could help inform a final package.