Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the stimulus rollout here.
President Biden returned to the podium after completing remarks on implementation of his rescue plan to take a question on whether his predecessor, former President Trump, should be doing more to promote the Covid-19 vaccine. Biden suggested that it is more important for local community leaders to promote the vaccine to “MAGA folks” than Trump himself.
“I’m hearing a lot of reports from serious reporters like you, saying that,” Biden said in response to a question on whether Trump could help promote the vaccine among skeptics.
Biden continued, “I discussed it with my team, and they say the thing that has more impact than anything Trump would say to the MAGA folks is what the local doctor, what the local preachers, what the local people in the community say. So I urge — I urge all local docs and ministers and priests to talk about why, why it’s important to get in to get that vaccine, and even after that, until everyone is in fact vaccinated, to wear this mask.”
The question comes amid polling that shows vaccine hesitancy is higher among Republicans.
While 92% of Democrats say they have gotten a dose of the vaccine or plan to get one, that falls to 50% among Republicans, per CNN’s latest polling.
President Biden formally announced that Gene Sperling, a former top economic official in the last two Democratic presidential administrations, will be coordinating the implementation of his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief law.
The President laid out in White House remarks today the role Sperling would play throughout the process, including working alongside both Republican and Democratic leaders:
The President said Sperling “has hit the ground running,” and will help the administration make sure the benefits of the relief plan will “go out quickly and directly to the American people where they belong.”
Biden stressed the importance of oversight and transparency throughout the implementation of the package.
“We have to prove to the American people that their government can deliver for them and do it without waste or fraud,” Biden said.
“We’re going to have to stay on top of every dollar spent through the American Rescue Plan. And that’s what we’re going to do. We can do this. We will do this,” the President said in closing.
President Biden is speaking about his newly passed stimulus plan. He said that in the coming days, his administration is prioritizing the continued vaccine rollout as well as making stimulus payments.
“Shots in arms and money in pockets. That’s important,” he added.
Biden: This plan is doing what it was designed to do
President Biden is delivering remarks from the White House on how he plans to implement his newly signed $1.9 trillion Covid relief law.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed during today’s press briefing that Gene Sperling, a former top economic official in the last two Democratic presidential administrations, will serve as the point person in overseeing the implementation of the law.
Congress passed the relief package last week, and Biden signed it into law on Thursday. The bill has been Biden’s biggest legislative priority since taking office in January.
In a speech Friday celebrating the passage of the bill, Biden acknowledged the real work was only just beginning. The President said the rollout would require “fastidious oversight,” and he added that “the devil is in the details of implementing this legislation.”
Key features of the plan include:
Here’s a guide of what is in the relief plan.
First lady Jill Biden traveled to New Jersey Monday to promote the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, visiting an elementary school, where she highlighted the bill’s impact on schools.
She made multiple stops at Samuel Smith Elementary School, visiting the CARE room to learn about the school’s mitigation strategies, making remarks on the bill and greeting students.
Biden said in addition to the safe reopening of schools, the plan also supports three other initiatives: direct payments to families, child care assistance, and saving jobs.
She was joined by top state officials, including Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez and Gov. Phil Murphy.
Biden’s stop today is part of the White House’s cross-country tour to promote the relief package.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are in Las Vegas, Nevada, today, and President Biden heads to Pennsylvania tomorrow.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki just confirmed that Gene Sperling will be running point on the implementation of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief law.
Psaki went on to describe Sperling’s background:
“Gene has spent more than a decade at the highest level of government, including as a senior Treasury official and as the only person to serve as NEC director twice. As we’ve talked about a bit in here, there are a number of economic officials who will be playing a role in implementation, so he has an especially interesting and relevant background in helping pull all those levers,” she continued. “Gene also played a key role in helping steer Detroit out of bankruptcy and on the path to renewal, and he quarterbacked support for small businesses and economic assistance for unemployed Americans.”
Psaki said Sperling will work “with the heads of White House policy councils and key leaders at federal agencies who can get funds out the door quickly, maximize its impact, accelerate the work that the administration is doing to crush Covid and rescue our economy.”
She added that Biden “thought it was important to have a point person who could, of course, pull all of these levers.”
Psaki said Sperling’s title will be “White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator and Senior Adviser to the President.”
She could not provide reporters with Sperling’s start date or where his office will be located. She added that he is currently in California and will be working remotely until he is able to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“He’ll work out of the White House and have a team working with him,” she added.
Some Americans are already seeing the latest round of stimulus payments hit their bank accounts, as the first batch of funds is rolled out.
The payments — worth up to $1,400 per person — were included in the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package just signed by President Biden. The money is expected to reach about 90% of families, according to an estimate from the Penn Wharton Budget Model.
Who is getting the payments: The full $1,400 amount goes to individuals earning less than $75,000 of adjusted gross income, heads of households (like single parents) earning less than $112,500 and married couples earning less than $150,000.
The payments gradually phase out as income goes up, and lawmakers narrowed the scope for this third round of payments so that not everyone who received a previous check will be sent one now.
It cuts off at individuals who earn at least $80,000 a year of adjusted gross income, heads of households who earn at least $120,000 and married couples who earn at least $160,000 — regardless of how many children they have.
But unlike prior rounds, families will now receive additional money for adult dependents over the age of 17. Families will receive an additional $1,400 per dependent, so a couple with two children could receive up to $5,600.
The new income thresholds are based on a taxpayer’s most recent return. Use our calculator to see if you’ll qualify for a stimulus check here.
Starting Monday, you can check the status of your payment using the IRS Get My Payment tool online.
No action is required for most people to receive the money. Social Security recipients and those who receive Veteran Affairs benefits should also receive the money automatically even if they don’t file taxes.
If you don’t see the check yet, don’t panic. A Treasury Department official told reporters on a Friday call that checks will continue rolling out in the “coming weeks.”
Paper checks are coming too. Though not as speedy as direct deposit, paper checks and prepared debit cards will be sent out before the end of the month.
CNN’s own Tami Luhby and Katie Lobosco walk through exactly how much you can expect and when you can expect it on this special CNN Political Briefing podcast.
Fact check: Who really qualifies for a stimulus check?
Three top officials have hit the road Monday to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff departed Joint Base Andrews this morning.
Harris is set to focus on the US surpassing 100 million shots in arms and sending out 100 million checks on Monday, traveling to Las Vegas, where she will visit a Covid-19 vaccination site with Gov. Steve Sisolak, Rep. Dina Titus, and Rep. Susie Lee.
She will also visit the Culinary Academy in Las Vegas with Rep. Steven Horsford, delivering remarks at both stops, per her office.
Emhoff will visit a food relief organization for a tour and listening session in Las Vegas.
Harris and Emhoff will spend the night in Los Angeles.
First lady Jill Biden, meanwhile, will tour Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, New Jersey, on Monday, highlighting the parts of the relief package aimed at schools.
She takes a three-stop tour of the school with Gov. Phil Murphy and will speak about how the American Rescue Plan will improve the lives of families and their communities, per her office.
The House of Representatives voted last week to approve the $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan, a top legislative priority for President Biden. The President signed the bill into law on Thursday, and focus now turns to how the massive package will be implemented.
Much of the legislation mirrors the plan laid out by Biden in January. But lawmakers did make three notable changes – narrowing eligibility for the stimulus checks, trimming the federal boost to unemployment benefits and nixing an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Here’s what is in the bill:
Read a more detailed breakdown here.
In the next few weeks, the Biden administration will launch a national vaccine promotional campaign aimed at encouraging hesitant Americans to get immunized, a marketing executive close to the project told CNN.
The advertisements are part of a $250 million Covid-19 education campaign run by the US Department of Health and Human Services, which will include a podcast hosted by “a well-known person” outside of government, the executive said.
Work on the campaign began last fall, but the ads promoting vaccines haven’t been released yet because the vaccine is still in short supply, and health officials don’t want to create additional demand, the Biden administration official told CNN.
“Once we get to a point where supply starts looking like it might outstrip demand, that’s when the vaccine confidence messaging needs to kick in,” the official said, adding that “we’re getting close” to the right time.
President Biden and other top officials will promote the coronavirus relief package this week by hitting the road on what the White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the “Help is Here Tour.”
Here’s a look at the schedule:
“During their trips, they will discuss the benefits of the ARP for working families,” Psaki said last Thursday, and “will engage with people at each of these stops about how the American people can benefit from the component of the package.”
She said they will talk about the $1,400 stimulus checks, which will begin to be deployed “as early as this weekend,” as well as the child tax credit, the extension of unemployment insurance, rental and homeowner assistance, the expansion of the earned income tax credit, health insurance subsidies, “and of course the fact that the bill will lift 11 million people out of poverty and cut child poverty in half.”
An internal memo obtained by CNN’s Phil Mattingly says the White House will deploy messaging to “every corner” of the country with the President, vice president, first lady, and second gentleman, as well as Cabinet members and top officials.
For 10 days, administration officials will focus on one element of the bill per day, from the stimulus checks and emergency unemployment insurance extensions, to vaccine distribution and re-opening schools.
President Biden will announce today that Gene Sperling, a former top economic official in the last two Democratic presidential administrations, will serve as the point person in overseeing the implementation of the newly signed $1.9 trillion Covid relief law, according to two people briefed on the plan and a senior administration official.
Biden will announce Sperling’s appointment at the White House today at 1:45 p.m. ET during remarks about implementation of the law, according to the senior administration official.
Sperling’s mandate will be to get money out the door quickly and maximize its impact, the people said, while also serving as the lead official in partnership with state and local officials on the receiving end of billions of dollars from the law.
He will serve as the lead in advising and ensuring local officials get what they need, while also holding them accountable for any mismanagement of funds, the individuals briefed on the plan said.
Sperling has spent more than a decade at the highest levels of government, twice serving as the director of the National Economic Council, and will be tasked with ensuring all aspects of the sweeping relief law are put into place as designed.
Read more here.
