WHETHER Americans get $2,000 stimulus checks could be decided today after Democrats appeared to flip control of the Senate.
A pair of special elections in Georgia on Tuesday determined which party holds the Senate, with one race already called for the Democrats and the other with the Democrat candidate holding a slim lead.
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According to Fox News, Black voters and those under the age of 45 helped Democrat Raphael Warnock unseat incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler.
The race between Jon Ossoff and GOP incumbent David Perdue is neck and neck, however.
While $600 stimulus checks are already being distributed as part of a new Covid-19 relief package, many Americans say the amount is not enough and lawmakers so far have been unsuccessful in approving more financial assistance or a third check, despite a House-passed bill that President Trump supports.
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to push a third stimulus check that would likely again gain the support of the Democrat-controlled House and also the Senate if Republicans lose the majority, Newsweek reported.
The Senate failed to approve $2,000 checks last week after the House passed a bill authorizing the payments.
The $600 checks are now starting to arrive into the bank accounts of millions of Americans.
At a campaign rally for the Georgia races on Monday, Biden spoke of the ramifications that vote could have on the possibility for $2,000 checks.
“If you send Jon [Ossoff] and the reverend [Raphael Warnock] to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door, restoring hope and decency for so many people who are struggling right now,” Biden said.
“If you send Senators [David] Perdue and [Kelly] Loeffler back to Washington, those checks will never get there,” he said.
The two Democratic candidates, Ossoff and Warnock, have already voiced support for $2,000 stimulus checks.
While both Perdue and Loeffler have also supported $2,000 checks, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked an effort by Democrats, President Donald Trump and several GOP members to increase the recent $600 payments to $2,000.
Regardless of the outcome in Georgia, however, President-elect Joe Biden will likely face a closely divided Senate that could make it difficult for him to govern.
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