A second round of stimulus payments that was included in a congressional-approved coronavirus relief package Monday night is now in jeopardy if President Trump does not sign the bill.
The deal called for $ 600 checks, but the president indicated Tuesday that he would like that amount to increase to $ 2,000 per person.
However, House Republicans on Thursday blocked Democrats from increasing the amount, which jeopardized the entire package. Democrats have taken Trump’s surprise objections to the bill to try to push Republicans to accept a higher amount for stimulus checks – and Republican lawmakers are now in a difficult position where they will be forced to decide whether to challenge or not the president.
Democrats promised their effort was not over, promising to pass a bill to increase stimulus checks to $ 2,000 with a total vote up or down at the House floor on Dec. 28.
Here are the key things about Covid-19 stimulus controls:
Who gets the money faster: Payments do not end at once. Those with bank information whoever registers with the IRS will probably get the money first because it will be deposited directly into their account. Others will receive paper checks or prepaid debit cards in the mail.
Approximately 90 million people, more than half of those eligible, received their payments during the first three weeks of April following the signing of the March agreement. Most people had their money within two months.
Still, about 12 million eligible Americans were at risk of not getting the money at all because the IRS had no way to get there. Although most people received the money automatically, people on very low incomes who do not normally file tax returns had to register online before November 21 to provide their address or bank account number.
IRS under pressure: If Congress keeps the eligibility requirements the same as in the first round of checks, the process can be almost as easy as pressing a button. But it could complicate things if the parameters are changed, especially if Congress adds restrictions aside from revenue.
Additional checks may be delayed the start of the 2020 tax filing season. A second stimulus check means the agency will have to make changes to the tax return forms, some of which have already been sent to printers.
Some background: In March, Congress provided direct payments of $ 1,200 to individuals and couples with $ 2,400 plus $ 500 per child under the $ 2 trillion CARES law.
As with this first round, the $ 600 payments included in current legislation would begin to be phased out for people with adjusted gross incomes of more than $ 75,000 and those earning more than $ 99,000 will receive nothing. Income thresholds would double for couples.
Read more about the Covid-19 stimulus negotiations here.
CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, Phil Mattingly, Clare Foran and Kristin Wilson contributed to the publication of this article.