Biden, Senators Agree to Lower Cutoff for Relief Checks

Millions of people who received stimulus checks under former President Trump might not be getting one from the Biden administration. The Washington Post reports that the president and Senate Democratic leaders have agreed to narrow the eligibility for checks in the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package: individuals earning up to $75,000 and households earning up to $150,000 would get the full $1,400 payment; partial payments would go to individuals who make up to $80,000 a year and couples who make up to $160,000. Under the plan passed by the House, individuals making up to $100,000 a year and households making up to $200,000 would have received partial payments.

Kyle Pomerleau, a tax modeling expert at the American Enterprise Institute, says the change will mean around 9 million people who received checks under Trump will not get one under Biden, the New York Times reports. He estimates that the move, which moderate Democrats pushed for, will reduce the cost of the bill by up to $20 billion. Sources tell the Hill that while the eligibility for checks is changing in the Senate bill, a provision for $400 per week unemployment payments through August passed by the House will remain. Moderates including Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Jeanne Shaheen had sought to keep the payments at the current $300 level, the Post reports. (More COVID relief bill stories.)