Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, refused to bring a proposal to give qualifying Americans a $2,000 COVID-19 stimulus check before the Senate. He didn’t have the votes in his chamber. As a result, a compromise deal sent $600 checks to many Americans.
However, now that Democrats may have won control of the Senate, House, and the White House, could you get a $2,000 stimulus check?
The answer is that, yes, it’s definitely possible. Democrats supported the $2,000 figure. President Donald Trump did too. It was the McConnell-controlled Senate that bottled it up. However, Democrats took one of the two Senate runoff elections and they appear poised to take the second, although the race still hasn’t been called.
As of the morning of January 6, Democrat Jon Ossoff led Republican David Perdue by about 16,000 votes. Ossoff claimed victory, but major news organizations had not yet called the race. Ossoff’s victory is essential to the $2,000 check scenario, because it would put the U.S. Senate in the hands of Democrats, when you count Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris serving as a tiebreaker.
Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the second runoff. There were still about 100,000 votes left to count, but they were in areas around Atlanta that tilt Democratic, according to Fox News.
Here’s what you need to know:
Joe Biden Made $2,000 Stimulus Checks an Issue in the Georgia Runoffs
GettyPresident-elect Joe Biden.
President-Elect Joe Biden made sure that Georgia voters knew the $2,000 checks could happen if they gave Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
Biden went to Atlanta, Georgia, with the runoffs looming, and he said, according to CNBC.
“If you send Jon [Ossoff] and the reverend [Raphael Warnock] to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door, restoring hope and decency for so many people who are struggling right now,” Biden said.
“If you send senators [David] Perdue and [Kelly] Loeffler back to Washington, those checks will never get there,” he said.
According to CNBC, some experts think that Biden will put forth another stimulus package once he’s inaugurated, and that will include the higher check amounts. “My guess is that it will be part of any kind of a stimulus package that he and the vice president-elect put together,” said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, to the network.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Says That $2,000 Stimulus Checks Will be One of the Senate’s Main Priorities
GettySenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Democrats are making it clear they want a $2,000 check to pass.
Chuck Schumer has been Democratic minority leader; if Ossoff prevails, he will become majority leader.
“One of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated, is deliver the $2,000 checks to the American families,” Schumer said on January 6, according to Axios.
According to Axios, both Warnock and Ossoff ran on support for a $2,000 stimulus check for Americans. This would be on top of the $1,200 approved the first time around, and the $600 authorized in the second round of checks. Again, though, it all depends on the Perdue/Ossoff race, but due to where the remaining votes are coming from, there aren’t many who believe Perdue can still prevail. He could also file court actions in a bid to overturn the results, of course.
READ NEXT: The Life & Death of Nashville Bomber Anthony Quinn Warner.