Second Stimulus Update: Direct Checks Are On The Way, But How Much Will They Be?

Congress appeared to overcome a major hurdle in efforts to pass a roughly $900 billion economic relief package late Saturday after Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Democrats reached a compromise to rein in the Federal Reserve's emergency lending powers.

“Now that Democrats have agreed to a version of Sen. Toomey’s important language, we can begin closing out the rest of the package to deliver much-needed relief to families, workers, and businesses,” a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told NBC News.

Lawmakers continue to work on a relief deal, which may include $300 per week in jobless benefits, as well as direct payments of $600 for qualified Americans.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said late Saturday that a deal is "very close."

Direct payments of up to $600 could begin before the end of the year should Capitol Hill approve a new stimulus package.

Along with payments to qualified Americans and weekly unemployment benefits, the second stimulus package would also provide $300 billion in aid to people in need of food, money for businesses, schools, renters, and the Postal Service, and vaccine distribution funds.

“For most Americans, these payments will go out really quickly and in a similar timeline to the first round of stimulus checks,” Chantel Boyens, a former Office of Management and Budget official, told CNBC.

Checks quickly found their way to Americans in the early throes of the pandemic. When President Trump approved the CARES Act on March 27, money reached Americans in the week of April 14.

The $600 would be half of the CARES Act, which provided $1,200 to 160 million Americans.

There is still a possibility that Americans can see $1,200, as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri have pushed for a relief bill that includes the same amount as the CARES Act. Both senators, who are on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, have lobbied hard in December for $1,200 direct payments.

Meanwhile, some Democrats in the House urged for $2,000 in stimulus checks, according to a letter obtained by Business Insider. On Dec. 8, the Washington Post reported that President Trump had privately indicated he also wanted stimulus checks of $2,000 and he recently repeated called for $1,200 or $2,000 direct payments.

Congress is expected to vote Sunday ahead of a tight deadline. The government could shut down if a deal is not reached by 12:01 a.m. ET Monday.

Schumer and McConnell had vowed to work through Christmas to get a relief package passed.