Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday morning said that the next round of stimulus payments may not be sent out to all Americans, saying that Congress is looking at “targeted” payments.
“I’m looking at basically … the people that are receiving it, what income level… who needs it the most?” Manchin said on CBS’ “This Morning.” “And they’re saying up to $50,000 for a single individual and up to $100,000.”
“There were people making $250,000 and $300,000 receiving checks,” he said. “And Democrats and Republicans start saying that was not our intent at all. So they’re trying to make sure it’s targeted to the people that really need it. So that’s where it’ll happen. And it will go out quickly once we get this passed.”
Manchin added in the interview that there needs to be a review process for the $1.9 trillion package supported by the Biden administration.
“$4.8 trillion has been appropriated already and gone out the door. There’s still money that hasn’t been sent, and there’s $900 billion just spent,” the West Virginia Democrat said. “And there’s different views from economists. The bottom line is we need a robust, but we need it quickly. And that’s why the president and I spoke. I move basically to get this process started.”
Manchin added that he was not going to break several key rules in the Senate, including undoing the filibuster.
The stimulus bill, Manchin added, will be bipartisan and there “might be some changes.”
“Based on the facts, we’ll go from there. But it doesn’t take that many different senators to vote to change things,” he added.
On Tuesday night, Senate Republicans issued a rebuke of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion virus relief package.
“We are not going to dilute, dither, or delay,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said ahead of the vote, adding: “We welcome cooperation. There is nothing about the process of a budget resolution or reconciliation, for that matter, that forecloses the possibility of bipartisanship.”
Hours before that, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that new growth forecasts from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) showed the United States “desperately” needs Congress to act on Biden’s CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus rescue package.
“Last year, the economy shrunk more than any other since the end of World War II. With the growth that the CBO projects, it will be years before the country reaches full employment again,” Yellen said in a statement, issued after speaking with Senate Democrats on Tuesday about Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
The CBO on Monday updated its forecasts to show new, rosier GDP growth projections for 2021, but a full recovery in jobs to pre-pandemic levels not taking place until 2024.
Reuters contributed to this report.
