• World

Trump wants cash payments of 1,000 USD per person in COVID-19 stimulus plan: media

• Xinhua
• March 20, 2020 3:29 AM

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration's plan to send Americans relief money as part of a massive stimulus package in response to COVID-19 could be 1,000 U.S. dollars per person, and 500 dollars per child, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday.

In a Fox Business Network interview, Mnuchin said the administration will get the first batch of money out in three weeks once approved by the Congress, adding that it will deliver more cash payments if the national emergency over coronavirus lasts longer.

The U.S. treasury secretary, who is still in discussions with lawmakers on the details of the stimulus package, said the plan would send total payments of 500 billion dollars directly to working Americans.

At a White House news briefing Tuesday, Mnuchin said he was working with lawmakers on a "significant" economic stimulus plan, which includes support measures for small businesses, airlines and hotels, as well as potential cash payments for working Americans.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, tweeted Thursday that any stimulus plan must put workers first. "We don't want bailouts unless they're used for workers, unless the industries keep all their employees, unless they don't cut salaries of their employees, and unless they are not allowed to buy back their own stocks or raise corporate salaries," Schumer said.

With Republicans holding 53 out of the 100 seats in the Senate, the package will need support from at least seven Democrats in the upper chamber if all Republicans back it.

U.S. President Donald Trump's advisers are considering issuing both 50-year and 25-year bonds as they seek financing for the proposed 1.3 trillion-U.S.-dollar fiscal stimulus package, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.