Joe Biden won’t put his name on US$1,400 stimulus cheques, unlike Donald Trump
- US$1.9 trillion Covid-19 rescue plan expected to pass Congress on Wednesday
- White House says Biden’s name will be left off stimulus cheques to speed distribution
The next round of paper cheques will bear the signature of a career official at the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
House Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they have the votes to give final congressional approval to Biden’s US$1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill. Passage has not been in serious question, but the leaders’ confidence underscored the unity Democrats have shown during the effort.
The vote on that bill, which includes the cheques for most American households, was set for Wednesday. House approval, four days after the Senate passed a modestly reworked version of the package, will clinch Biden’s most significant early legislative achievement.
Psaki said the goal was to get the payments out quickly instead of branding them as coming from Biden.
“This is not about him, this is about the American people getting relief,” Psaki said.