Second stimulus check: is the week of 21 September the possible first date for payment?
After Congress adjourned for recess on 10 August without striking a deal, It could be another month at least until Americans receive a second $1,200 stimulus payment.
On 10 August, US Congress adjourned for the August recess and now will not return from vacation until after Labor Day on 7 September. It means that with no deal on the table for a new Coronavirus relief package as American citizens now face over a month’s wait for a potential second $1,200 stimulus check.
The earliest that a deal could be struck will be after Congress returns from vacation on 8 September but even then, it's unlikely that anything will happen immediately. The House of Representatives is not due to reconvene for votes until 14 September although members will remain on stand-by to return to Washington at 24-hours’ notice in the remote scenario that a deal on new stimulus legislation is struck. For any new bill to be passed, members are required to cast their vote in person and so would have to be recalled from vacation.
Related: Second stimulus check: who's to blame for lack of payments?
Payment date?
Looking ahead to a potential agreement and subsequent payment, the earliest beneficiaries would see money arriving in accounts would be 23 September. For that to happen, the Senate would have to reconvene as planned on 8 September having already come to some sense of a deal in the meantime. The bill could then pass the Senate on 9 September and (based on our experience with the previous checks within the CARES Act) there would be a two-week delay period to the payments being made.
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