Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Senate Republicans the federal government wants to deliver $250 billion in checks to adults in the United States within “a matter of weeks” to address the economic blow caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mnuchin met privately with GOP senators to discuss the checks, part of a broader $1 trillion White House stimulus plan that would also include small business relief, and said the $250 billion for the checks may only be the first installment and could be followed by more money, if it is determined later that it is needed.
“I think the mechanism is to be determined, but the secretary and the president are proposing very significant direct cash payments,” Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said after the meeting.
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Hawley said Mnuchin agreed to his proposal to tie the payment amount “to family size and family need.”
Hawley said the payments would be administered through the IRS, “sort of like a tax rebate.”
Using the IRS would allow the government to act quickly, lawmakers said.
“It would get pretty significant relief out there, pretty fast,” Hawley said.
Many Republicans who left the meeting declined to comment on the proposal.
“It’s a very fluid situation, and Republicans are having intense discussions,” Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, said. He called the proposal to send people cash “one of the ideas under discussion.”
Sen. Marco Rubio seemed supportive of some kind of major aid package, arguing the coronavirus emergency warrants drastic action.
Mnuchin discussed other proposals in the plan to address the needs of small businesses.
“These are not normal times,” Rubio, a Florida Republican, told reporters. “The circumstances in which we live now have no precedent. We are not talking about businesses here who made bad decisions and are asking to be bailed out. We are talking about a virus. That is an extraordinary development.”
Rubio said he had not studied the proposal to send out checks and is focused on small business aid, including cash advances to small businesses to avoid mass closings and the resulting mass unemployment.
Senate Republicans are still negotiating the passage of a House bill to provide free coronavirus testing and paid sick leave. Some Republicans want changes to lift the financial burden on small businesses.
