President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats have agreed to tighten income limits for stimulus checks, phasing out payments for people with higher-incomes after pushback from moderate Democrats for more "targeted" spending, a Democratic official told The Associated Press.

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats have agreed to tighten income limits for stimulus checks included in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, according to a Democratic official

  • Originally, individuals earning up to $75,000 – and couples up to $150,000 – would get $1,400 checks per person

  • Under Wednesday’s agreement, those checks would end for individuals making $80,000 and couples earning $160,000, the official said

  • Democrats are aiming to keep the caucus united on the bill in a 50-50 Senate, with zero margin for error

Originally, individuals earning up to $75,000 – and couples up to $150,000 – would get $1,400 checks per person. The version the House approved over the weekend would gradually phase down those amounts and disappear completely for individuals making $100,000 and couples earning $200,000.

But under Wednesday’s agreement, those checks would end for individuals making $80,000 and couples earning $160,000, the official said, under the condition of anonymity.

The news of a deal comes as the Senate is planning a procedural vote to advance the bill potentially later Wednesday – Democrats are aiming to keep the caucus united on the bill in a 50-50 Senate, with Republican leaders Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Thune (R-SD) predicting that the GOP caucus will vote unanimously against the bill.

"The new administration made a conscious effort to jam us," McConnell told reporters. "We’ll be fighting this in every way that we can."

On Tuesday, Biden took to Twitter to signal he wouldn’t budge from his demand that lawmakers add a fresh $1,400 payment to the $600 that millions of individuals received from a December relief measure, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the overall bill’s cost.

 

 

"The fact is that $600 is not enough. The Senate needs to pass the American Rescue Plan and finish the job of delivering $2,000 in direct relief," Biden wrote.

Moderate Democrats, such as Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), pushed to narrow the upper income limits of the stimulus checks.

Sen. Shaheen said to reporters this week "I think we could drop it below the $200,000 and still get households that really need it," adding that she hopes the money could go to other causes, such as hospitals.

Democrats already dropped two transportation projects as examples of pork that would politically benefit Democrats leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that a subway extension through downtown San Jose did not meet requirements for inclusion in the bill because it is part of a pilot project. The project was set to receive about $141 million under the bill that passed in the House. The parliamentarians rulings are generally respected by the Senate.

Also, the $1.5 million in funding to maintain and operate a bridge connecting Canada and the United States in upstate New York, Schumer’s home state, has been removed by Senate drafters of the bill.

The projects represent a tiny fraction of the overall bill’s cost, but they became popular talking points for Republicans lining up in opposition to the measure, which they says is bloated and unfocused. The subway extension was described as “Speaker Pelosi’s pork subway project” even though it is located 50 miles away from her district.

"Now that the two projects that Republicans misled the public about in the House bill have been removed, it is unclear how Republicans will justify their opposition to the American Rescue Plan, which has strong bipartisan support among the public," Hammill said.

The Associated Press contributed to this update.