Fourth Stimulus Check Update: New Direct Payments Unlikely, No One ‘Advocating’ For Them

While American people continue to voice support for another round of stimulus checks, with a petition calling for additional payments earning more than 2.5 million signatures thus far, experts are still cautioning Americans to not look forward to additional funds from the government, as there aren’t really any advocates for another round of payments at that level.

Economic experts caution that priorities have changed and there has been a shift in focus when it comes to how the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats are working to help the economy improve further from the COVID-19 Pandemic, with a big focus this summer on passing his infrastructure plan, which doesn’t include a round of direct payments and checks to Americans but instead focuses on other areas in need of economic improvement.

“I don’t see people advocating for another check at this moment,” Mike Konczal, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at the Roosevelt Institute told Insider. “I think the big fights are about dealing with the legacy of the pandemic, both getting vaccination rates up, dealing with evictions and foreclosures, and making sure that bottlenecks in the economy are swiftly taken care of.”

White House officials seemed to back up Konczal’s comments, telling Insider that that administration is “committed to providing relief to the American people to recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” but also noting that newer laws focused on helping small businesses, providing housing aid, and the expansion of the child tax credit.

“We look forward to continuing our work with Congress to implement ARP and pass the president’s full Build Back Better agenda,” the official said.

Previously the administration’s official line was that while checks were not in consideration, they weren’t off the table completely, and Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden was open to a range of different ideas regarding any future payments.

Of course, should a check be considered, it would still have a long road to being passed, as it would have to get through Congress, which has been notorious for holding up stimulus payments before. A second stimulus check was in stalemate for much of 2020 until December, when Americans received an extra $600. Congress had continued to argue—and even rejected—then-President Donald Trump’s support for a $2,000 check earlier in the year. The third stimulus check, which came under President Biden in March, it was passed because of the use of Budget Reconciliation, which allowed Senate Democrats to avoid the filibuster and pass the legislation for it without a single Republican vote for support.

Those payments were also sent out after Democrats made attempts to concede on the income threshold for those who were eligible for the checks, though some who exceeded that threshold have since been found to have received payments anyway.

While a check is not on the horizon currently, some will start seeing money directly added to their bank accounts beginning next week due to the Enhanced Child Tax Credit. That will see money deposited into accounts on a monthly basis through December, with eligible households receiving $300/child for children under 6, as well as $250/child for children between 6-13.