President Joe Biden has agreed to moderate Democrats’ demands to narrow eligibility for stimulus checks, but party leaders in the Senate are resisting a push to trim extra unemployment benefits as they try to consolidate support for the administration’s $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill, according to a Democratic aide.
Individuals earning over $80,000 now wouldn’t qualify for the direct payments, compared with a $100,000 cap in the previously drafted legislation, the aide said on condition of anonymity. The ceiling for couples will now be $160,000 against $200,000 before. Checks start at $1,400 before they begin phasing out.
Lawmakers are heading toward the final phase of enacting Biden’s first signature legislative package, with the Senate taking up the relief bill the House passed last week. The changes in the measure could clear the way for passage in the Senate. It then would be sent back to the House for a vote on the modified legislation.
While Republicans have opposed the price tag as excessive, the administration says the aid will give a vital lifeline to millions of Americans put out of work by the pandemic.
Democratic Senators, including Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, had advocated tighter targeting to reduce funds being transferred to those who don’t need it. Their votes will be critical in passing the legislation given the Senate’s 50-50 partisan split and the united GOP opposition.
A separate push by moderates to trim supplemental unemployment benefits to $300-a-week from the $400 approved in the House won’t be included in what is initially brought to the Senate floor, according to the aide. The Senate’s so-called managers’ amendment to the House bill is expected to keep the House’s figure, which is a $100-a-week increase from the current level through August.
The language Biden approved gives both the moderate and progressive wings of the Senate Democratic caucus one item they wanted in the final negotiations. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden has “been clear he is open to changes on the margins” of his package, while being “firm” on the thresholds for phasing out the stimulus checks.
Reaction to the news among Democrats was largely positive.
Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, a member of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s leadership team, said the language Biden agreed to could put Democrats on track to clear the package later this week. Schumer said Wednesday the Senate will take up the bill “as early as tonight.”
“That’s a reasonable compromise,” Stabenow said. “We’re in a good spot to get this done.”
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, by contrast, said, “I think the package as it had been crafted was good to go.” She said that “I think people need money.”
For the stimulus checks, phase out of the $1,400 payments starts at $75,000 in annual income per individual and $150,000 for couples, the same as set in the House bill, the aide said.
“I think we could drop it below the $200,000 and still provide help to households that still need it,” Shaheen said earlier this week in arguing for changes to the stimulus-check eligibility.
Biden met with nine moderate Democrats at the White House earlier this week as he sought their support in enacting his first signature piece of legislation.