Miami
Johnson says Trump’s $5,000 checks would need congressional approval
The House speaker said the proposal could not move ahead without Congress. Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the plan would go forward if Republicans keep control of both chambers after the midterms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Donald Trump’s proposal to send $5,000 checks to adult U.S. citizens would require action by Congress, Axios reported.
According to the outlet, Johnson said in a CNN interview that the president would need lawmakers to act. In a separate appearance on NBC, he stopped short of guaranteeing the payments would be sent and said Congress would have to work through the issue and reach consensus, as it does on other matters.
Trump said this week at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas that he would order a $5,000 payment, which he has described as a Trump Dividend, if Republicans keep control of the House and the Senate.
Axios reported that Trump and other officials say the plan would be financed through tariffs, investment gains and other income. Before departing Ireland on Sunday, Trump told reporters the checks were still moving forward and said he had been considering the idea for some time.
Asked why not pursue the payments now, given that Republicans currently control Congress, Trump said a Democratic victory would leave the country in disarray, according to Axios.
The outlet also noted that a stimulus package of that scale would carry major economic risks for both the deficit and inflation. The proposal has already drawn bipartisan opposition, though Trump has continued to insist the checks will happen.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
