Third Stimulus Check: GOP Senator Proposes $10,000 Direct Payments Be Included In Relief Bill

A Republican Senator on Saturday proposed including $10,000 direct payments for Americans in the new coronavirus relief bill in an attempt to counter the package.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., submitted an amendment that called for the removal of 10 non-COVID-related agenda items in the $1.9 trillion relief legislation and, instead, offer $10,000 stimulus checks.

“Only 9% of Pelosi’s $1.9 trillion 'plan' is related to COVID-19. I offered an amendment providing $10k stimulus to Americans most affected by COVID-19 & lockdowns. Democrats chose foreign aid, Big Tech transit, and Pelosi’s political priorities over direct relief for Americans,” Gosar wrote on Twitter.

“Government ordered the shutdown and broke the back of the economy. Break it, buy it. Americans need help with car payments, mortgage, rent, and everyday necessities. The people, not government, corporations, or billionaires, need this help. Consider $10,000 a down payment,” he continued.

The agenda items Gosar has called to remove come from more than 200 sections of the American Rescue Plan. These include funding for the arts, corporate and federal transit projects, foreign aid, and “vaccine confidence activities.”

Gosar’s amendment came after the House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package in the early hours of Saturday with a 219212 vote.

The vote was split on partisan lines. Every Republican in the House voted against the sweeping legislation. Reps. Jared Golden, D-Me., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., joined the GOP in voting against the measure.

“During challenging times, the country needs its elected leaders to work to,gether to meet the most urgent needs in their communities,” Golden explained in a statement following his vote. “This bill addresses urgent needs, and then buries them under a mountain of unnecessary or untimely spending.”

The $1.9 trillion bill includes another round of stimulus checks for most American households, an extension of the government’s weekly unemployment benefits, enhanced child tax credit, and funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The bill also includes $30 billion in housing assistance and $5 billion for programs that help prevent coronavirus outbreaks among the homeless.

The bill will now move to the Senate, where a ruling by the parliamentarian would likely remove a provision to increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2025.