Employed, Middle Class Americans Don’t Need More ‘Free’ Stimulus Money

The passage of a new stimulus bill hit a surprise roadblock on Tuesday night, but that’s unlikely to prevent the federal government from throwing more money at Americans who haven’t lost their incomes—and neither will the upcoming change in presidential administrations.

President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that he will push for another round of stimulus checks as part of a planned COVID-19 relief bill he’ll urge Congress to pass after he takes office next month. Sounding a pessimistic note that’s markedly different from how the Trump administration has approached the pandemic, Biden said the “darkest days” of the crisis are still to come. He favors extending emergency federal unemployment payments and said he would negotiate with Congress for more stimulus checks.

Hours later, President Donald Trump threatened to veto a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill passed earlier this week because the package does not include large enough direct payments. The bill would send $600 to all Americans who earned less than $75,000 last year, with payments phasing out around $87,000. Trump wants payments of $2,000 per person—a demand that would add roughly $350 billion to the cost of the overall package.

And keep in mind that those $600 stimulus checks were only included in the current stimulus bill after the cross-aisle alliance of Sens. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) and Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) threatened to block the measure’s passage until they were