#GOP COVID-19 bill will include stimulus checks, Steve Mnuchin says

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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin
Erin Scott/Pool via Reuters

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says proposed coronavirus legislation expected to be released Monday will include direct stimulus payments to individuals.

“We have the direct payments — and as you now, the direct payments are a much quicker way of effectively giving everybody a tax cut,” Mnuchin said in a Fox News interview Sunday.

In March, Congress approved an initial round of $1,200 stimulus checks for people earning less than $75,000. There was a phase-out for higher incomes. People earning $99,000 received nothing.

Details of the GOP proposal, including a possible income cap, were not immediately clear.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday announced the outline of a $1 trillion Republican coronavirus bill brokered with Mnuchin as the top Trump administration negotiator. It’s unclear if the direct payments will be in the core bill.

“It won’t be in the base bill,” Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday.

Some Republican senators, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, oppose another round of stimulus checks, though Democrats largely support them.

President Trump also supports another round of direct payments to offset the economic damage of the pandemic.

On Thursday, Mnuchin said, “the president’s preference is to make sure that we send out direct payments quickly so that in August, people get more money.”

There are likely to be protected negotiations with House Democrats after Republican leaders in the Senate unveil their legislation on Monday. In May, House Democrats passed a $3 trillion bill that included direct payments along with bailouts for states and rent and mortgage assistance.