- The White House is eyeing a double payment for eligible families in February.
- The child tax credit is expiring this month and a key holdout is preventing Democrats from renewing the program.
- Sen. Joe Manchin has expressed resistance to direct payments.
The White House is considering sending families a hefty check in February to make up for a missed payment of the child tax credit next month.
"If we get it done in January, we've talked to Treasury officials and others about doing double payments in February as an option," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
It comes after President Joe Biden conceded that the centerpiece of his domestic agenda wasn't going to pass anytime soon. In a Wednesday evening statement, the president said negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin, a key holdout on a $2 trillion social spending and climate bill, would continue into Christmas week. This means that the December 15 checks to families with children will be the last ones until the program is renewed.
"It takes time to finalize these agreements, prepare the legislative changes, and finish all the parliamentary and procedural steps needed to enable a Senate vote," he said, adding he wanted to put the measure for a vote "as soon as possible."
In a 50-50 Senate, Manchin wields tremendous power and influence. Senate Democrats need his vote to approve the bill and bypass strong GOP opposition. But without his support, the bill cannot clear the evenly-divided chamber.
Manchin has expressed opposition to providing Americans direct payments with no strings attached. "If we keep sending checks, it will be hard to stop the checks," he said at a Wall Street Journal event last week.
A key part of the Democratic spending bill is a one-year extension of the child tax credit, which provides families with up to $300 per kid a month depending on their age. The Biden stimulus law bulked up the annual credit and made it available to families who don't have to pay taxes for the first time. The benefit program has overwhelming support among Congressional Democrats.
But those changes are about to expire at the end of the year, and the IRS issued final payments to those 35 million families on Wednesday. The fate of the program may well rest with Manchin.