You Might Get $2K Relief Check After All

It got a little lost in the shuffle of Wednesday's chaos in DC, but the pair of Democratic Senate wins in Georgia means that Americans might get $2,000 in COVID relief checks after all. In this case, that would likely mean an additional payment of $1,400 on top of the $600 that started going out late last month. "One of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated is deliver the $2,000 checks to American families," Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday, per MarketWatch. Schumer is poised to become the Senate majority leader now that Democrats will have control. When this might happen remains unclear, notes the Washington Post. For one thing, the Georgia races still must be certified, and it's possible Republican challenges will arise.

In December, Republicans led by Mitch McConnell blocked the additional money in the Senate, recounts Fox News. At the conservative Hot Air, Ed Morrissey suggests it was a blunder that might have cost Republicans control of the Senate. "Had McConnell just allowed HR9051 to get a floor vote, perhaps it might have been enough for David Perdue to win his runoff against Jon Ossoff," he writes. "Alas, we'll never know." Not surprisingly, Nancy Pelosi says the House is on board with the bigger checks, as it was last month. In the first weeks of the Joe Biden administration, "we will pursue a science- and values-based plan to crush the virus and deliver relief to struggling families," she says. (More COVID relief bill stories.)