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- 10 senators are calling for President Biden to back regular direct payment checks.
- It would be a big change from past checks, which have been negotiated one by one.
- The proposal is likely to face opposition from Democratic moderates and the GOP.
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A group of Democratic senators is calling for President Joe Biden to support regular direct-payment checks to low-income Americans while the US economy recovers from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to the president calling for the measure, they wrote: “This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.”
“Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions.”
Previous stimulus-check plans have always dealt in single payments. Under President Donald Trump, payments for $1,200 and $600 were approved.
Biden and Congressional Democrats are currently advancing legislation for a third payment of $1,400 as part of a wider $1.9 trillion stimulus.
The plan in the letter would shift such payments from one-off checks to repeating ones, though it did not specify amounts or how often they would come. Any such plan would likely face significant opposition.
The letter was signed by two of the Senate's most prominent left-leaning liberals, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent Senator who caucuses with Democrats.
Sanders is Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He was joined by Sen. Ron Wyden, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
Here is the full list:
- Ron Wyden of Oregon
- Cory Booker of New Jersey
- Sherrod Brown of Ohio
- Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
- Bernie Sanders of Vermont
- Alex Padilla of California
- Michael Bennet of Colorado
- Ed Markey of Massachusetts
- Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin
- Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
The letter was issued as Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill was moving through the Senate. The letter wants recurring checks to be implemented after the existing stimulus is passed.
The proposal would likely face opposition from moderate Democrats, some of whom have expressed concern about the size of Biden's relief bill. Republicans have also opposed previous stimulus payments, and would likely object to recurring ones.
Democratic proposals for higher direct-payment checks have been popular with voters, and were prominent policies when the two Democratic candidates win the January 3 Senate runoffs in Georgia, winning Democrats back control of the Senate from Republicans.