On Tuesday, The Washington Post claimed the stimulus checks going out to the vast majority of Americans as a result of the coronavirus crisis are being held up due to the fact President Donald Trump’s name is being attached to them.
In the article, WaPo alleged that adding the president’s name to the checks to tens of millions of Americans is “a process that could slow their delivery by a few days.”
The Washington Post claimed:
The team, working from home, is now racing to implement a programming change that two senior IRS officials said will probably lead to a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks. They are scheduled to be sent Thursday to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for printing and issuing.
Computer code must be changed to include the president’s name, and the system must be tested, these officials said. “Any last-minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay,” said Chad Hooper, a quality-control manager who serves as national president of the IRS’s Professional Managers Association.
But the idea there will be some kind of a delay is not true. Buried deeper within the piece is confirmation that the checks will not be delayed, Breitbart pointed out. Continued Below
A Treasury Department spokeswoman, however, denied any delay and said the plan all along was to issue the checks next week.
Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned — there is absolutely no delay whatsoever,” the spokeswoman said in a written statement. She said this was a faster process than the stimulus checks the George W. Bush administration issued in 2008 to head off a looming recession, as reported by WaPo.
“In fact, we expect the first checks to be in the mail early next week which is well in advance of when the first checks went out in 2008 and well in advance of initial estimates,” the statement said. Continued Below
One Treasury Department official confirmed that President Trump’s name will appear on the paper checks, adding there will be no delay to make that happen.
Monica Crowley, the Treasury Department spokeswoman, tweeted on Wednesday, a response to the “inaccurate and misleading” Washington Post’s claim:
Treasury spokesperson response to last night’s inaccurate and misleading Washington Post story: pic.twitter.com/5K7SNa6PFC
— Monica Crowley (@TreasurySpox) April 15, 2020
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took to Twitter on Wednesday spreading the rumor that the delay of payments is the result of the president’s name on the checks.
“Delaying direct payments to vulnerable families just to print his name on the check is another shameful example of President Trump’s catastrophic failure to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands,” she wrote.
Delaying direct payments to vulnerable families just to print his name on the check is another shameful example of President Trump’s catastrophic failure to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 15, 2020
Conservative actor James Woods fired back at Pelosi on Twitter, recommending that she “crack open the vodka and give us all just one day of blessed peace.”
Jesus, can this satanic harpie ever glue her dentures down for one moment? Trust me, we already know what your response will be to any achievement by the President or the brave American citizens of this country. Crack open the vodka and give us all just one day of blessed peace. https://t.co/TFTvyI3aX0
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 15, 2020
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Americans with the lowest income will get mailed checks first, according to reporting by the Washington Post. Here’s the timetable for the first checks, per IRS documents seen by the Post:
- Taxpayers with income up to $10,000: April 24
- Taxpayers with income up to $20,000: May 1
- Taxpayers with income up to $40,000: May 15
The rest of the checks will be issued by gradually increasing income increments each week. Households earning $198,000 who file jointly will get their reduced checks on Sept. 4. The last group of checks will be sent on Sept. 11 to those who didn’t have tax information on file and had to apply for checks, according to the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) on Tuesday attacked the president on Twitter suggesting that people “may think it’s a BOGUS check from a BOGUS president!”
“Whaaaat? Don’t dirty up the economic impact payments w/ Don the Con’s name on the checks that are being sent to American families to get thru the crisis. People may think it’s a BOGUS check from a BOGUS president!” she declared.
Whaaaat? Don’t dirty up the economic impact payments w/ Don the Con’s name on the checks that are being sent to American families to get thru the crisis. People may think it’s a BOGUS check from a BOGUS president!
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 15, 2020
The Washington Post, citing several “senior IRS officials,” reported on Tuesday that The Treasury Department “has ordered” Trump’s name be printed on stimulus checks the Internal Revenue Service is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans, a process that could slow their delivery by a few days.”
“Trump had privately suggested to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who oversees the IRS, to allow the president to formally sign the checks.” But since “the president is not an authorized signer for legal disbursements by the U.S. Treasury,” the stimulus checks will reportedly “instead bear Trump’s name in the memo line, below a line that reads, ‘Economic Impact Payment,’” according to the Post.
However, the Post also noted, it is usually “standard practice for a civil servant to sign checks issued by the Treasury Department to ensure that government payments are nonpartisan.”
