US President and Billionaire, Donald Trump’s name will be added to Economic stimulus relief cheques sent to millions of Americans meant to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a last-minute Treasury Department order, Trump’s name was added even though there are reports that the inclusion of his name will result in a delay for Americans receiving those checks, a process that could take as long as 20 weeks.
According to the Washington Post, “President Donald J. Trump” would appear in the memo line on the left side of the checks — marking the first time a president’s written name is featured on an IRS check.
A treasury spokesperson has denied claims Trump’s name inclusion will delay the timing of the cheques.
“Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned — there is absolutely no delay whatsoever,” A Treasury spokesperson told the Washington Post
According to a US House Ways and Means Committee memo, the paper checks will be issued at a rate of about 5 million per week and people with the lowest incomes, based on adjusted gross income, will receive their checks first, a process that could take up to 20 weeks to issue all.
According to Washington Post, Trump had confidentially asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin if he could officially sign the checks, but he has denied those reports as a president is not authorized to sign Treasury payments in order to protect the checks from politicization.
“No. Me sign? No. There’s millions of checks. I’m going to sign them? No. It’s a Trump administration initiative,”Trump said on April 3.
“But do I want to sign them? No.”
Trump, the senate and the House of Reps in March signed into law a historic 2 trillion Dollars economic stimulus bill to pay Americans during the Coronavirus pandemic and offset economic hardships suffered by the people this period. The first set of cheques will be paid next week.
