White House press secretary Jen Psaki could not resist taking a swipe at former President Donald Trump when asked if President Biden’s signature would be on the stimulus checks included in his $1.9 trillion spending package.
The Biden administration is working to “expedite the payments and not delay them,” according to Psaki. “This is not about him. This is about the American people getting relief, almost 160 million of them.
“Which is why the president’s name will not appear on the memo line of this round of stimulus checks,” she said as the House prepares to vote on the sweeping spending measure on Wednesday.
Passage would send the Senate-approved measure to Biden, who said Monday that he would sign it as soon as it arrives at the White House.
BIDEN FOLLOWS HIS PARTY; TRUMP RULES REPUBLICANS WITH IRON FIST
Trump became the first president to be cited on an IRS disbursement when he insisted that the first round of pandemic-related direct payments made last spring should bear his name. The move was criticized by some Trump administration officials for risking delays. The CARES Act provided taxpayers with incomes below $75,000 a $1,200 check.
Payments distributed through Biden’s so-called “American Rescue Plan” would be signed instead by a Bureau of Fiscal Service career official within the Treasury Department, Psaki said. Biden made the decision because he didn’t consider his signature “a priority or unnecessary step,” she added.
Eligible members of the public should start receiving their checks by the end of this month, Biden predicted last week. White House officials are predicting the House will pass the Biden-pushed spending bill, even though there is some remaining drama: Liberal House Democrats must agree to affirm compromises pushed by centrist Democrats such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin when the upper chamber passed its version over the weekend.
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Qualifying individuals earning less than $75,000 will be sent a payment of $1,400 as part of the latest measure.
