Mnuchin Confirms Plan for $1,000 Cash Payments to Americans

Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin answers questions from the press after an interview on CNBC on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington on Sept. 12, 2019. Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed a plan to send $1,000 in cash payments to all Americans within nine weeks.

“This is an unprecedented situation, where for good reason, the government has instructed major parts of the economy to close down so that we can win this fight against this virus,” he said in a Fox interview on March 19. “While we’re doing that, we understand there are impacts on hard-working Americans, and the president is determined to support them.”

The White House is talking to congressional leaders in both the Democratic and Republican parties about a stimulus plan to deal with the CCP virus crisis.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

“The first one would be $1,000 per person, $500 per child,” Mnuchin said. “So for a family of four, that’s a $3,000 payment.”

Health care worker tests people at a drive-thru testing station run by the state health department, for people who suspect they have novel coronavirus, in Denver, Colorado, on March 11, 2020. Jim Urquhart/Reuters

He also called on Congress to pass a large financial aid package that includes direct deposits to families as soon as possible. The White House has proposed to use $1 trillion to help households and the U.S. economy amid the pandemic.

“As soon as Congress passes this we‘d get this out in three weeks, and then six weeks later, if the president still has a national emergency, we’ll deliver another $3,000,” Mnuchin added.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said March 18 that he doesn’t agree with sending checks several times.

Schumer said that instead, “beefed-up” unemployment insurance would cover Americans for “a much longer time and would provide a much bigger safety net.”

President Donald Trump on March 18 invoked war-time authority to ramp up output of medical supplies and other equipment, using the 1950 Defense Production Act.

“There is not a day to lose,“ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said March 19. ”We must put more testing, more protective equipment, and more ventilators into the hands of our frontline workers immediately.”

Trump has already approved several aid packages for Americans who might lose their jobs or be affected in another way. More and more states and cities have been banning large gatherings and told businesses to close or limit their services, triggering fears that a surge of unemployment claims will be filed.

U.S. stock markets also have been hard-hit in recent weeks, erasing all the gains they had made since Trump’s inauguration.