Mnuchin: Virus aid package expected soon; $1,200 stimulus checks coming in August

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that Republicans were prepared to introduce the next coronavirus aid package on Monday, adding that another round of $1,200 stimulus checks would be coming in August.

Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Mnuchin said extending -- but reducing -- an expiring unemployment benefit was a top priority for President Donald Trump.

Mnuchin said the White House was backing his efforts to fine-tune a $1 trillion proposal that had lost steam in Congress earlier this week, The Associated Press reported.

“We’re prepared to move quickly,” Mnuchin told reporters after he spent several hours with Republican staffers at the Capitol. Mnuchin was accompanied to the meeting by Mark Meadows, the president’s chief of staff, the AP reported. “The president has been very clear. He wants to make sure that the American people have what they need during this unprecedented time,” Meadows said, “to make sure not only the money is there but the programs.”

Mnuchin said the second round of $1,200 direct payments would be based on the same formula from the first aid bill, according to the AP.

“We’ll get the majority of them out in August and those will help people,” Mnuchin told reporters.

Cox Media Group