- Larry Kudlow, one of Trump’s top economic advisers, said the administration was weighing another round of stimulus controls, though he added that it should be targeted at Americans without a job.
- “We would probably like to focus on those people who lost their jobs and are the most needy. Okay, that’s speculation on my part, but I think … that’s what it is about,” Kudlow said on Fox Business. interview.
- Comments suggest that the top economic advisor favors greater eligibility for another wave of stimulus controls.
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Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said Tuesday that the Trump administration was considering pressing for another wave of stimulus controls on an economic aid package to be debated in Congress next month.
But this time, Kudlow suggested that the government can target Americans without jobs and others who are experiencing significant difficulties.
“I think tax breaks or direct mail checks are on the table … There are a lot of discussions going on,” Kudlow said in an interview with Fox Business. “We would probably want to target those people who lost their jobs and are the most needy. All right, that’s speculation on my part, but I think … that’s what it’s about.”
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Kudlow’s comments come as President Donald Trump has privately expressed support for another round of stimulus controls, The Washington Post reported. Trump told attendees that the move would increase his chances of winning reelection and strengthen the economy.
Kudlow, however, is not in favor of sending more government cash to Americans en masse. Instead, it appears to support greater eligibility for people who would qualify for a second stimulus check. Depending on the thresholds selected, it could substantially reduce the number of people receiving additional federal cash and raise concerns about how it is implemented.
In March, Congress and the Trump administration authorized the sending of $ 1,200 stimulus checks to people earning less than $ 75,000 a year, plus an additional $ 500 for dependent children, under the Economic Aid, Relief and Security Act of Coronavirus. More than 159 million Americans had received direct payments in early June, according to the IRS.
Stimulus testing was a critical component to help prevent people from falling into poverty as the economy collapsed in April and May, research from the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame showed.
Many Americans remain unemployed, and the federal increase of $ 600 in weekly unemployment payments will be phased out in late July. Republicans and Democrats squabble over the most effective way to keep households afloat.
The unemployment rate is 13.3%, the highest since the Great Depression. It peaked at 14.7% in April before falling slightly in May, and experts said it would remain close to 10% for the rest of the year, dampening prospects for a rapid economic rebound.
House Democrats included another wave of direct payments of $ 1,200 in the sizable spending package the chamber approved last month, expanding eligibility for unauthorized immigrants and increasing the size of the payment for dependents. But Senate Republicans opposed the bill and have not proposed an alternative.
It is not immediately clear if Republicans would endorse another round of checks. Senator Mitt Romney, who was one of the first Republican lawmakers to call for stimulus controls when the economy fell into recession, said he opposed more direct payments Tuesday.
