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STIMULUS CHECKS

Second stimulus check: the approval of the package could be delayed until October

US Congress are on holiday as of August without a formal agreement on a coronavirus relief package that, among other measures, will likely include a second round of stimulus payments.

AS USA
Second stimulus check: the approval of the package could be delayed until October

A second round of stimulus check payments for financially strapped US citizens badly hit by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has been broadly agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans, but the failure of both parties to reach consensus on a fresh stimulus package before a deadline of 7 August has left the issue of a second round of payments up in the air.

Congress adjourned for the August recess on Monday 10th and now will not return until after Labor Day on 7 September. It means that with no deal on the table for a new Coronavirus relief package, Americans face over at least a month’s wait for a second $1,200 stimulus check.

See also: Stimulus Checks: what has been agreed and what remains to be resolved for a second payment?

October payment?

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump turns away and departs as reporters ask questions after the president made an announcement about U.S. trade relations with China and Hong Kong in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S.,
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FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump turns away and departs as reporters ask questions after the president made an announcement about U.S. trade relations with China and Hong Kong in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S.,Jonathan ErnstREUTERS

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 voting 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. Looking ahead to a potential agreement and subsequent payment, the earliest beneficiaries would see money arriving in accounts would be 23 September. This is very much the best case scenario with a more realistic date for payments to be made some time in October.

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