Trump Administration Called out for Stimulus Check Delays by Rep. Katie Porter

Rep. Katie Porter has led a callout of the Trump administration and its inaction over the first [...]

By Christian Long

Rep. Katie Porter has led a callout of the Trump administration and its inaction over the first round of stimulus checks. While the IRS has claimed that it has sent out the vast majority of payments throughout its issue-plagued rollout, a number of citizens still haven't received payment.

In a letter sent to IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig, Porter leads a number of lawmakers taking the agency to task over the delays. "We write to express concerns about the quality and timeliness of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)'s responses (or lack thereof) to questions from our constituents about the delivery status of Economic Income Payments (EIP). While the letter acknowledges the "significant operational challenges" of the undertaking," it stresses that "too many taxpayers" are still waiting for relief. It also calls for a five-point information request to assess the IRS' ability to handle the remaining CARES Act payments.

The stimulus checks, which allotted a one-time $1,200 payment to U.S. citizens and $500 per dependent, came as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act that was passed in March. Intended to help provide aid to individuals and businesses who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the problems with the rollout began early. Eventually, the IRS was able to refine methods for recipients to receive help, but much of the issue stemmed from people's inability to track their payment.

Despite the still-unresolved problems of the first round of stimulus payments, the issue of a second stimulus package has appeared to be stalled in The Senate. However, President Donald Trump assured that a second stimulus package would be announced in the coming weeks. "We had this going better than anybody's ever seen before," Trump told Forbes.

"We had the best job numbers, the best economics, the best economy we've ever had, and then we had the virus come in from China," Trump continued. "Now we're rebuilding it again. We will be doing another stimulus package. It'll be very good, it'll be very generous." When asked for specifics regarding exactly what the amount would be, the president replied, "You'll find out about it. You'll find out."

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