Trump’s name to be printed on $1,200 coronavirus stimulus checks going out to Americans, reports say
When Americans receive their anxiously awaited checks from the federal government, which are being sent out to help mitigate the economic hardships caused by the coronavirus outbreak, they may notice the words “President Donald J. Trump” have been added at the bottom.
Trump suggested to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin the idea of adding his signature to the $1,200 paper checks, and the department agreed Monday to add his printed name (but not his actual autograph), according to multiple media reports citing unnamed Treasury Department and IRS officials.
The president’s formal signature won’t appear because he is not legally authorized to endorse the checks. Instead, his name will be on the memo line, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported. According to the Post, it is standard for a department employee to sign the checks “to ensure that government payments are nonpartisan.”
Senior IRS officials said the addition of the president’s name could delay the checks, according to the Post, which first reported the story. But both the Post and the Times said Treasury Department officials disputed that assertion and said the checks will begin going out next week.
There were already concerns that the outdated technology used by the IRS could delay the release of the funds, and Chad Hooper, president of the agency’s Professional Managers Association, told the Post that changing the computer code to add the president’s name could take time.
“Any last minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay,” Hooper told the Post.
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Americans who have given the IRS their direct deposit information began to receive the funds on Friday and Mnuchin said he expects about 80 million taxpayers will get the money by Wednesday. Trump’s name will not appear on any of those deposits.
Mnuchin told reporters Monday that electronic disbursement is the preferred way of distributing the funds and that they are trying to get the money to as many Americans as possible that way. But millions of Americans, many of them low income, will receive paper checks.
The decision to add the president’s name to the checks was derided as self-serving and politically motivated by congressional Democrats, most of whom voted to approve the $2.2 trillion rescue package that included the direct payments to taxpayers.
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“Thousands of families are running out of money as they lose their jobs. Days and hours matter. But Trump comes first,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tweeted in response to the Post story. “So Trump is delaying the stimulus checks so his signature can be printed on each one. Him first. You second. Always.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., echoed Murphy’s sentiment.
“17 million people have lost their jobs. Millions can’t pay rent, afford food, and are sinking into debt. And the president is delaying relief for them so he can see his name on a check. Trump first, America second,” she tweeted.
“You know that stimulus check you’re waiting for? Trump is holding it up so he can add his signature on the check. His narcissism is costing you,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said he would have resigned if President Bill Clinton had asked him to add his name to such disbursement checks.
“A Secretary of the @USTreasury who permits this is a dangerous sycophant. This is using government as a propaganda tool,” Summers tweeted.
And Walter Shaub, a former director of the independent Office of Government Ethics, tweeted, “Where you see the dying and suffering of your fellow Americans, Donald Trump sees another opportunity to promote himself – and, by extension, his reelection campaign. Corruption, you see, has its visionaries.”
Contributing: Michael Collins and Christal Hayes, USA TODAY; Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press
