WASHINGTON — More than seven months after Americans started receiving the first coronavirus stimulus checks, President Donald Trump has signed legislation to approve a second round of direct aid payments to Americans.
The development comes just days after Trump blasted the bill, which Congress passed after months of negotiations.
What does Trump want for checks?
Trump posted a video to Twitter calling for the $600 per individual or $1,200 per couple to be increased to $2,000 and $4,000, respectively. He called on Congress to send him an amended bill, something Democrats immediately welcomed. In a rare Christmas Eve session of the House, Republicans blocked a move to increase the stimulus check size to $2,000.
The Democratic-led House supports the larger checks and voted overwhelmingly Monday to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked Democrats' push for bigger $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks. He said the chamber would “begin a process” to address the issue.
How fast could the IRS send out checks?
During the first round of economic impact payments, President Trump approved the CARES Act on March 27 and the first checks started appearing in people's bank accounts about three weeks later, during the week of April 14.
However, because the IRS already did a lot of the set-up work during the first round of payments, there's a chance a second round of stimulus checks could be sent out faster.
In an interview last week, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Americans can expect to receive stimulus payments in just a few days after the bill becomes law.
If you received your first stimulus check by mail, you'll want to sign up for direct deposit to make sure you get it quicker. It's likely that paper checks won't arrive until weeks after payments are sent out to those who set up direct deposit.
How much will the stimulus checks be?
On direct payments, the original bill provides $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 to couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes. An additional $600 payment will be made per dependent child, similar to the last round of relief payments in the spring.
Here is a tool from Omni Calculator that may help you determine how much you might receive, based on the $600 number:
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
