Many people heard news over the weekend about President Trump signing executive orders and memorandums in order to provide economic relief to the millions of people impacted by the coronavirus.
We saw certain initiatives included in these executive orders like relief for student loan payments, a payroll tax holiday, eviction moratorium, and relief for unemployment.
(These initiatives may face legal challenges in the coming days or weeks.)
But what about more stimulus checks?
Does the president have the authority to authorize an additional round of stimulus payments to Americans?
The answer appears to be “no” and here’s why.
The Constitution provides Congress, and in particular, the House of Representatives, with what is known as the “power of the purse.”
This is essentially the power to impose taxes and spend.
Recall that the first round of stimulus checks that went out from the CARES Act was actually an advance on a tax credit. This is why many people will unexpectedly have a nice surprise next year when they file taxes.
Since this was a tax credit it fell under the power of Congress to levy taxes. It required a new law to be passed in order for those checks to go out.
So that is why we most likely did not see President Trump sign in more stimulus checks with an executive order or memorandum.
To do so, would be outside of his authority.
As far as when we can expect the next round of stimulus checks to be passed, there still is a lot of unknown.
We were hoping and expecting for an agreement to be finalized by the end of last week but that failed to come into fruition.
We are now faced with the prospect that these negotiations could drag on for weeks and some have even speculated that this could last until September.
There’s even some who have speculated that no agreement may be made which at this point seems unlikely but it’s still a possibility.
So if you are waiting for another stimulus check to arrive, don’t be discouraged by the fact that you did not see it included in the executive orders signed this weekend.
Just try to sit tight and hope that lawmakers get things going and that we hear something in the next few days.
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Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
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