Nancy Pelosi allays fears and says ‘of course’ Congress can pass coronavirus stimulus in early August – The Sun

NANCY Pelosi has allayed fears of a second round of stimulus checks being pushed back, saying "of course" Congress would have enough time to negotiate another bill before the August recess.

There's been much talk of Americans receiving another financial lifeline, but the Democrats' last attempt, the HEROES Act, was deemed "dead on arrival" in the House by Republicans.

This time, however, the speaker of the house attempted to reassure taxpayers that the next round of negotiations would be more successful.

"[Republicans] have publicly said that 'this or that' should be in the next bill, so we anticipate we will have a bill," Pelosi said on Thursday.

Assuming lawmakers do approve a second package, whether the checks arrive next month depends on the congressional schedule.

Congress went on recess on Friday and members return on July 20.

While on break, senators will be considering whether to approve a second stimulus.

Congress resumes on July 20, but goes on recess again from August 10 to September 7.

That leaves a window of 15 working days between the July and August recesses for Congress to give the green light on another check.

July seems out of the question for sending out checks, but August is a possibility because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said he wants to approve a stimulus package before August 7, Congress’ last day in session.

If Congress does not act in August, the next opportunity is from September 10 to 25.

The estimated timeline for second checks possibly coming is based on how the first stimulus checks were allocated.

Congress approved the CARES Act on March 27, enabling $2.2 trillion for the first wave of stimulus checks of up to $1,200 each, among other coronavirus pandemic financial relief initiatives.

The U.S. Treasury Department sent the first checks 17 days later, on April 15.

That means that the second stimulus checks could be activated before September.

However, the Treasury Department has not disclosed any timetable for the second checks.

Also of note is that some Americans still have not received the initial stimulus checks, and Congress may elect to wait on the second wave until after Labor Day when the first round is presumably complete.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he is in favor of bigger stimulus checks and for them to go out faster than the first round.

“I want the money getting to people to be larger so they can spend it,” Trump told Fox Business. “I want the money to get there quickly and in a non-complicated fashion.”

The president said he supports “larger numbers than the Democrats” for the second checks, “but it’s got to be done properly.”

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin echoed Trump’s support for new checks during a press conference the following day.

The first round of checks “worked very well,” Mnuchin said, and the White House is going to “seriously consider whether we need to do more direct payments.”

Mnuchin, who was the lead White House negotiator on the first stimulus, added that he was “having conversations with certain members of Democrats and Republicans to get ideas.”

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