We’re now counting down the days when a bill like the HEROES Act (containing passage of a second stimulus check) may pass.
Here’s what we know.
The White House, despite some early waffling, seems to be largely on board with the idea.
And that includes President Trump who has been a vocal supporter of more checks.
The Senate which is controlled by Republicans needs to get on board for more checks to go out, though.
The problem is the Senate is now talking about limiting eligibility for the next round of checks to those making under $40,000, a plan that would leave out millions of Americans.
Congress is set to resume their session on July 20th.
Some lawmakers like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have suggested that they will be introducing the “starting point” for negotiations at that time and that they expect negotiations to proceed for two to three weeks.
This is slightly problematic because unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of July, so millions of Americans will be in limbo regarding crucial benefits.
We also know that Congress is set to recess on August 7th (for an entire month).
This puts a lot of pressure on agreements being made in the next couple of weeks and if unemployment benefits are to be maintained the timeframe is even shorter.
But it seems like some Democrats are now considering an extension of the upcoming session if needed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) recently made this clear by stating that she would be open to a delay in the recess if additional time is needed to reach an agreement.
“We absolutely have to. We also have to come to an agreement. The timetable is the timetable of the American people,” Pelosi said to CNN.
This is the first time I’ve heard any lawmakers mention a delay of the August recess. This could be a negotiation tactic to let Republicans know that Democrats are not threatened by the short time frame that they have to work with.
Republicans could be using the upcoming expiration of unemployment benefits as leverage for Democrats to be more open to agreeing to other terms so that something is promptly passed, for example.
So now there is a chance that things could drag through August.
If that does happen it would likely mean a favorable outcome to those waiting for stimulus checks.
That’s because it would mean Democrats did not yield or give in to pressure by Republicans.
And that pressure would likely involve a heavy compromise on stimulus check eligibility.
We’ll see how it all plays out.
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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.
