Trump administration eyes checks to Americans amid coronavirus outbreak
By Morgan Chalfant and Brett Samuels - 03/17/20 12:18 PM EDT
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to send checks to Americans in the next two weeks in order to address the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
“You can think of this like business interruption payments to the American worker,†Mnuchin told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “Although the president likes the idea of a payroll tax holiday … we’re looking at sending checks to Americans immediately.â€
Mnuchin is expected to brief Senate Republicans on the proposal later Tuesday. President Trump, who also appeared at the press briefing, said the administration could make such payments in “four or five†ways. He said a payroll tax cut was one way of getting money to Americans but said the administration was leaning toward other methods in order to do so more quickly.
“There are some very good ways of getting the money out and getting it out quickly,†Trump said, adding that officials would have “a pretty good idea†of how they would accomplish it by the end of the day.
Mnuchin said the administration was considering putting a cap on who would receive the one-time payments depending on income.
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https://thehill.com/policy/finance/488011-trump-administration-eyes-checks-to-americans-amid-coronavirus-outbreak