Pressure grows for bigger relief checks

Pandemic stimulus checks could already be in some bank accounts after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted late Tuesday the $600 payments are coming — even as pressure builds to boost the direct deposits to $2,000.

“Today @USTreasury and @IRSNews begin to deliver the second round of Economic Impact Payments to millions of Americans,” Mnuchin announced on his Twitter feed.

The U.S. Senate appears to be in a stalemate over the $2,000 checks that are backed by President Trump an unusual cast in Congress — including progressives New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also wants bigger cash handouts.

Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey also back the $2,000 payments, with Warren putting out an email blast calling for passage of the payments.

“Struggling families need real relief. That includes $2,000 survival checks,” Warren wrote. “The House has already passed a bill to get it done. Senate Democrats and even some Senate Republicans are on board. Trump said he’ll sign it.

“But now, Mitch McConnell is standing in the way. We all need to raise our voices to show that this plan has the support of the American people,” she added.

The roadblock mounted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may not be sustainable as pressure mounts.

Trump wants the Republicanled chamber to follow the House and increase the checks from $600 for millions of Americans.

A growing number of Republicans, including two senators in runoff elections on Jan. 5 in Georgia, have said they will support the larger amount. But most GOP senators oppose more spending, even if they are also wary of bucking Trump.

The Democrat-controlled House on Monday passed the CASH Act with 44 Republican votes and sent it to the Senate, where it now lingers. AOC also jumped into the fray on Twitter Tuesday night egging Sanders on in his battle to hold up the defense spending bill in exchange for higher bailout checks.

“Keep going @BernieSanders,” AOC tweeted.

“Make the Senate countdown the New Year on the Senate floor until they pass $2k checks, no funny business attached,” she continued.

Sanders is attempting to delay a vote to override Trump’s veto of the $740 billion defense funding bill in exchange for $2,000 checks for, as he put it, “for every working class adult.”

“This is about life and death for millions of people,” Sanders added.

The U.S. Senate is back in session today.