Treasury has rebuffed allegations that economic impact checks have been delayed by a late decision to include the president’s name on them.
In an April 23 letter to Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Frederick W. Vaughan, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Treasury Office of Legislative Affairs, said that “checks are being issued on time, as planned.”
As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136), individual American taxpayers making less than $75,000 annually will receive a payment of $1,200 per person, with an additional $500 for each dependent child.
Vaughan's letter was in response to an April 21 letter from Wyden that asked if adding President Trump's name to the checks had caused a delay. Wyden also asked whether a president’s name has “ever appeared on a check drawn against an account of the Department of Treasury.”
Wyden’s letter cited an article in The Washington Post alleging that the decision caused a delay. Vaughan said the article “inaccurately suggests” that the checks were delayed and called Treasury’s process “appropriate.”
Vaughan also said Treasury is able to issue 5 million checks per week while also providing debit cards to those who don’t have direct deposit information on file with the IRS.
Treasury said it lacked access to the historical information necessary to determine whether other presidents’ names have ever been included on checks it has issued, but said it was “not immediately aware of such inclusions.”
Michael Zona, a spokesperson for Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in an April 24 email statement that “presidents regularly associate their name with economic stimulus programs.” Zona pointed to economic downturns in 2001 and 2008, when President George W. Bush included his name on letters sent ahead of the recovery checks.
Zona also noted that most Americans won’t receive a check because their payments will be deposited directly into their bank accounts.