Stimulus Checks May Be Delayed As Trump Requires U.S. Treasury to Print His Name on Them

Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by frozenHelen

Late Monday evening, the U.S. Treasury Department ordered the Internal Revenue Service to print President Donald Trump's name on the stimulus checks it is sending to millions of Americans nationwide, reports The Washington Post.

The Treasury Department's order could cause the checks to be delayed by several days or longer, senior agency officials told the publication.

The unprecedented decision will mark the first time in history that a president's name has ever appeared on an IRS disbursement. Usually, presidents' names don't appear on checks issued by the Treasury Department in order to keep such payments non-partisan.

His name will appear on the memo line appearing left side of the stimulus check.

Administration officials who spoke anonymously because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the matter said that Trump had originally asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to allow him to formally sign the checks, but the president isn't legally authorized to do so.

The stimulus checks, otherwise known as Economic Impact Payments, were included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by Trump late last March. The checks are intended to alleviate the financial burden now facing over 6 million American workers who've lost jobs or wages due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Those eligible to receive a check can get an individual minimum of $1,200 if they earn less than $75,000. or a joint payment of $2,400 if they're married couples and collectively earn up to $150,000—additional payments of up to $500 are available to those who live with children under the age of 17.

The stimulus checks won't be taxed and won't count toward future taxable income.

Some Americans have already started receiving their stimulus checks in the form of direct deposits. People can set up direct deposit with the IRS and Treasury Department if they haven't already. The IRS will also launch a "Get My Payment" app by April 17 that will allow people to apply for direct deposits and track the delivery of their checks.

"We know how important that is to all those hard-working Americans, many of which are home not working at the moment," Mnuchin said.

At the April 6 White House coronavirus briefing, Trump said another round of direct payments "is absolutely under serious consideration."

dildodestiny on April 15th, 2020 at 04:05 UTC »

Arent they coming in direct deposit? I just want my money dude

CadetCovfefe on April 15th, 2020 at 03:31 UTC »

I suppose he wants his rubes to believe he's personally writing them a check out of his own account, or something?

He's not even legally permitted to be a signer, so they're going to have to add his name to the "memo" section.

Stony_Brooklyn on April 15th, 2020 at 02:50 UTC »

Washington Post has a better article on the same topic.

"The decision to have the paper checks bear Trump’s name, in the works for weeks, according to a Treasury official, was announced early Tuesday to the IRS’s information technology team. The team, working from home, is now racing to implement a programming change that two senior IRS officials said will probably lead to a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks. They are scheduled to be sent Thursday to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for printing and issuing.

Computer code must be changed to include the president’s name, and the system must be tested, these officials said. “Any last minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay,” said Chad Hooper, a quality-control manager who serves as national president of the IRS’s Professional Managers Association."