$1,400 Stimulus Checks Expected to Pass Congress Wednesday Morning With One Democrat Opposing

3 min readMar 10, 2021

One Democratic lawmaker is expected to vote with Republicans when the House of Representatives holds its final vote on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill on Wednesday morning.

The House on Tuesday evening voted largely along party lines — 219–210 — to pass a procedural motion to book two hours of debate starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday for the bill, before the final vote. A lone Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, stood with Republicans in opposing the decision to advance the legislation.

Golden and Kurt Schrader of Oregon were the only two House Democrats to vote against the initial legislation when it first passed the House last month.

The Senate passed the American Rescue Plan on Saturday after Democrats in the chamber agreed to drop the $15 minimum wage hike, lower the income threshold for the $1,400 direct payments and reduce weekly unemployment benefits from $400 to $300. After the House passes the amended bill tomorrow, Biden said he would immediately sign it into law so Americans can start receiving their checks this month.

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Capitol Hill building
The U.S. Capitol building exterior is seen at sunset on March 8, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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Schrader has decided that he will change course and vote for the bill on Wednesday after his initial vote. In an announcement, Schrader explained that he now believes that the help it would bring to the people of Oregon would far outweigh his concerns about the size and scope of the package.

Golden, who has criticized the bill for including “unnecessary and untimely spending,” is expected to be the only defector.

Newsweek reached out to Golden’s representatives for comment.

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House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina on Tuesday told MSNBC that he expected the bill to be sent to Biden’s desk by the end of the week and the first batch of $1,400 checks could be delivered to Americans next week.

“We want to get this bill to the president for his signature before the end of the week,” said Clyburn. “I’m very hopeful that by the beginning of next week, some relief can be realized. As you know, there’s a process that we have to go through. The president can’t just toss the money out once he signs the bill.”

Under the bill, individuals earning under $75,000 and heads of households with incomes of up to $112,000 will receive the full $1,400. Couples earning less than $150,000 will receive $2,800 and people will get a further $1,400 for any eligible dependents. Individuals earning less than $80,000 will get a lesser payment and those earning over the threshold will be completely phased out.

$1,400 Stimulus Checks Expected to Pass Congress Wednesday Morning With One Democrat Opposing

Written by Morshalinali