$2,000 Stimulus Check Every Month Until Covid-19 Over?

Some Democrats in Congress want you to get $2,000 stimulus checks every month until the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

Here’s what you need know.

Stimulus Checks

As Congress debates the third stimulus check, some members of Congress are pushing for $2,000 stimulus checks every month. Unlike a one-time, $1,400 stimulus check, a proposal for $2,000 stimulus checks every month could be available until the economy is fully recovered. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN) tweeted last month: “We need $2,000 recurring checks until the end of the pandemic. I joined @TimRyan, @MichaelDTubbs, Stephanie Bonin, and Natalie Foster to push for $2,000 recurring payments for Americans until the economy is fully recovered.”

In January, Omar and 55 Democrats sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to do more than the $1,400 stimulus check that he included in his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.

More stimulus checks may be coming

If some Senate Democrats get their way, more stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment insurance may be coming. In the coming weeks, a group of Senate Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), will send a letter to urge Biden to support recurring stimulus checks until the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

“We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan,” the senators write. “This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions.”

While the letter doesn’t specify a dollar amount or frequency of the stimulus checks, some of the senators previously supported $2,000 stimulus checks every month for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Vice President Kamala Harris, who didn’t sign the letter, supported $2,000 monthly stimulus checks when she was a U.S. senator). Will Congress renew this policy proposal? Supporters say stimulus checks and unemployment insurance are essential tools to lift people out of poverty. According to an Urban Institute study cited in the letter:

• another one-time $1,200 stimulus check plus enhanced unemployment insurance and other assistance could keep 12 million people out of poverty; and
• a second direct payment could keep another 6.3 million people above the poverty line.

Will you get a third stimulus check?

The push for more stimulus checks comes as the U.S. Senate will consider Biden’s stimulus package, including a one-time, $1,400 stimulus check. It’s unlikely that Congress would support monthly stimulus checks. Given the aggregate cost, Senate Republicans are unlikely to support another stimulus check, let alone a $2,000 stimulus check or any other amount every month until the Covid-19 pandemic is over. Moderate Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) also may continue to raise objections to the new stimulus check, but likely won’t support recurring stimulus checks either. While Biden, a moderate Democrat, could support additional direct stimulus payments this year, it’s unlikely he too would support recurring monthly stimulus checks. In response, the senators who drafted the letter say that 65% of Americans support recurring cash payments for the remainder of the Covid-19 pandemic, including 54% of Republicans and 60% of independents. Progressives are pushing a larger agenda that includes more stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment benefits, a $15 minimum wage, and student loan cancellation.

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