COVID-19 Stimulus Check Distribution To Start Today, Mnuchin Says

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the $600 individual checks passed by Congress will start going out by Tuesday evening (Dec. 29), CNBC reported.

Mnuchin tweeted Tuesday that the payments “may begin to arrive in some accounts by direct deposit as early as tonight,” in the second such installment of financial aid sent directly to Americans to help offset the harm caused by the pandemic.

Like the first round of disbursements in the spring, digital payments will be direct-deposited to the accounts of those who have filed taxes in the last few years with the IRS. Paper checks will also be sent out by Wednesday morning (Dec. 30), CNBC reported, for individuals without bank accounts registered with the government.

And like the first time, the payments will be measured out by families, with individuals getting $600, married couples getting $1,200 and children getting $600, CNBC reported. The payments begin to phase out for people who make $75,000 or more per year.

“These payments are an integral part of our commitment to providing vital additional economic relief to the American people during this unprecedented time,” Mnuchin wrote in a separate emailed statement, according to CNBC.

Mnuchin has touted the money as a fast way to get recirculated into the economy and help create new benefits for small businesses.

There’s still some contention over how much money will ultimately be sent out, though. President Donald Trump has called for $2,000 payments, a measure which was passed by the House, but not by the Senate as of Tuesday evening.

Currently, there’s a struggle for the fate of the $2,000 checks, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocking consideration of the measure Tuesday morning. That’s not likely to be the last we hear of it, though, as there’s growing bipartisan support, including by Georgia’s two senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are currently fighting to keep their seats in an upcoming January election.

If the $2,000 checks are eventually passed, the remainder of the money will be sent on top of the $600 going out now, a Treasury Department official said earlier this week.