Second stimulus checks: Democrats propose another round of $1,200 payments - but Republicans say it's 'dead on arrival'

Congressional Democrats and Republicans appear to be drifting even farther apart on every aspect of the government's coronavirus response.

"I don’t think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday of the health crisis, reminding people of the fact that the federal government has yet to roll out billions of dollars in aid from previous bills. Republicans don't want to vote on any follow-up coronavirus relief legislation until at least June, leaders have said, as they assess the efficacy of previous legislation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping package worth more than $3trn that would send another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to every American, increase food stamp benefits, expand mail-in voting, provide billions of dollars in aid to states and local governments, and do so much more.

A Senate Finance Committee aide told NBC News the bill would be "DOA in the Senate."

That panel's GOP chairman, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, "will work with his colleagues on Phase 4 legislation if it becomes necessary," the spokesman said. "It's too early to say what that legislation might encompass. It would need to address any ongoing problems in an effective manner," the committee aide said.

That means Americans should not expect another round of stimulus checks to show up in their bank accounts anytime soon.

What's in the Democrats' bill

The item for a second round of stimulus checks in the $3trn bill introduced on Tuesday is modelled largely off the programme that sent most American adults $1,200 direct payments beginning in April.

The new bill not would renew the programme for another round of direct payments, but would beef it up for families with more than two children and fixes certain issues for mixed native and immigrant families.

In the new bill, which House Democrats are calling the "Heroes Act," Americans making less than $75,000 individually or $150,000 as a married couple would receive an additional $1,200 for every dependent, regardless of age, claimed on their most recent tax filing, up to $6,000 per family. The so-called CARES Act passed in March only provided $500 for each child under 17.

The new proposal would also send checks to every qualified person on a tax return, even if one spouse was not a US citizen. Under the CARES Act, families where one parent was a US citizen and the other was not did not receive a check from the government. Republicans quickly slammed the former provision, saying it put undocumented immigrants above American citizens.

A group of US citizens whose undocumented spouses prevented their families from receiving stimulus checks has sued the Trump administration over their exclusion from the programme, multiple outlets have reported.

A compromise with progressives?

While the Heroes Act would provide another round of direct payments to most Americans and would expand the pool of people eligible for the stimulus checks, it does not nearly reflect many Democrats' more ambitious goal of recurring monthly payments during the pandemic.

Democratic progressives and some moderates had joined forces in recent weeks on a bill from Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio directing automatic monthly cash payments of $2,000 to every American during the coronavirus crisis for up to six months, with $500 for every claimed dependent.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus' official priorities list for the bill had outlined a plan for monthly recurring payments of $2,000 to every American for up to an entire year, but many later signed onto Mr Ryan's bill, which he introduced last month with California Congressman Ro Khanna, a sophomore member of the progressive caucus.

“I think this is the best way to stabilise the economy and make sure that everybody is paying their mortgage, paying their credit cards, paying their personal loans ... and all the rest so that they don’t fall behind,” Mr Ryan, who is often described as a moderate and briefly ran for president last year, said on the Fox News Rundown podcast last week.

While the Heroes Act only would authorise one round of stimulus checks, it does propose providing more money per claimed dependent than Mr Ryan and Mr Khanna's bill, which may have been a concession to House Democrats' more progressive wing.

Republican cold water

While Donald Trump has variously expressed enthusiasm for a sweeping follow-up package to the March CARES Act and the "interim" bill worth $484bn passed last month, saying he would "absolutely" consider another round of stimulus if it is needed, congressional Republicans have been more cautious.

The government has already spent more than $2.7trn on the coronavirus relief efforts, roughly 13 per cent of GDP, causing concerns about a mounting federal debt.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California immediately panned the Democrats' bill, saying on Tuesday that Republicans were not consulted on its contents and that its policies are untenable.

"While Americans are searching for answers, House Democrats are releasing a liberal wish list that has no chance of becoming law, as even Democrats and the media acknowledge," Mr McCarthy said.

Ms Pelosi can still pass the bill in the House without any Republican support, and that's exactly what she plans to do with a marathon vote series on Friday.

"We have a big need. It's monumental. And therefore, it's a great opportunity to say, 'Let's work together to get this done.' There's a way to open the economy based on science, testing, testing, testing and let's get on with it. That's what we're here to do," the speaker said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday.