Democrats split over criteria for $1,400 stimulus payments.
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are increasingly divided over the criteria for the next round of stimulus payments, splintering the caucus even as they aim to quickly pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package.
Democrats will include payments of $1,400 per person in the stimulus proposal, fulfilling a key pledge from Biden to bring $600 payments from December to $2,000 in total. But they disagree about who should be eligible to receive them, with mixed signals from the Biden administration complicating the situation.
Democrats have not decided the final threshold levels for the checks to include in their plan despite having little time before they are expected to release legislation, according to one aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
“There’s a discussion right now about what that threshold will look like,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “It’s still being negotiated at this point.”
Centrist lawmakers such as Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., have called for targeting the payments to prevent them from going to high-earning Americans, arguing that those who have not lost their jobs do not need help. Senior Democrats have considered a plan that would lower the income threshold determining eligibility for the checks from prior levels of $75,000 per individual to $50,000 per individual, while lowering the threshold for married couples from $150,000 to $100,000.
But that idea has been met with increasing resistance from other members of the party, including Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders, IVt., as well as House lawmakers in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Wyden and Sanders have
publicly criticized the proposals to lower the income thresholds to $50,000, saying middle-class families have suffered pay cuts and other economic shocks and need relief, too. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., whose election victory in January helped seal Democrats’
Senate majority, also opposes lowering the threshold on the checks, according to a spokeswoman.
The official Democratic proposal will likely be higher than $50,000 per person, according to two people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations.
The White House has said it is willing to compromise on the thresholds, with Psaki repeatedly saying the administration is open to negotiations with Congress on the matter. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested that the administration was not on board with Democrats’ plans for lower income thresholds.
“The exact details of how it should be targeted are to be determined, but struggling middleclass families need help, too,” Yellen said on CNN. Asked whether she supports a phaseout higher than $50,000 per person, but not necessarily as high as $75,000, Yellen responded: “Yes, I — I think the details can be worked out. And the president is certainly willing to work with Congress to find a good structure for these payments.”
Biden gave similar remarks in an interview with CBS Evening News, saying he was “wide open” on the precise levels of the income threshold.