Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Naomi Jagoda, in for Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
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LEADING THE DAY – Democrats on Tuesday moved forward with their work on the $1.9 trillion relief package sought by President Biden, even as the Senate opened its second impeachment trial of former President Trump.
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House Democrats started committee consideration of their draft legislation on Tuesday, after key portions of the package were released the day before. The committee work will continue throughout the week: The House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over large swaths of the bill — including a new round of stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits — will start what’s expected to be a three-day markup on Wednesday.
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Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed on Tuesday that Democrats will move forward with crafting a relief bill while the chamber conducts the impeachment trial. He said that Democrats wouldn’t let the trial “throw a wrench” into a plan to pass coronavirus relief by mid-March, when federal unemployment benefits are set to expire.
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Biden hosted the leaders of several major corporations in the Oval Office in an effort to solicit their support for his relief proposal. Attendees included JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Gap Inc. CEO Sonia Syngal.
Spotlight on the proposed stimulus checks:
One element of the package that is of much interest to lawmakers and the public is the proposal for direct payments of $1,400 per person.
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Following a debate over the income eligibility requirements for the checks, House Democrats’ proposed $1,400 payments are similar to the previous rounds of direct payments in that single taxpayers with annual income up to $75,000 and married couples that make up to $150,000 would qualify for the full payment amounts. Biden said Tuesday that he supports these thresholds.
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The payment amounts above those thresholds in House Democrats’ proposal would phase out at faster rates than the payments from the first two rounds. Single filers with income above $100,000 and married couples with income above $200,000 would not be eligible for any payments.
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House Democrats’ proposal seeks, when possible, to base the next round of coronavirus relief checks on the reduced income many Americans earned during the pandemic.
THE BIG DEAL – Tanden seeks to defuse GOP tensions over tweets
Neera Tanden, who is poised to play a key role in Biden’s coronavirus relief efforts if confirmed to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), had her first of two confirmation hearings on Tuesday.
Tanden sought to defuse tensions over her political tweets, apologizing at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee for her partisan jabs on social media.
“I regret that language and take responsibility for it,” Tanden, a frequent cable news guest over the last several years, said in a line she added to the prepared opening statement released to the media ahead of the hearing.
“Over the last few years, it’s been part of my role to be an impassioned advocate. I understand, though, that the role of OMB director calls for bipartisan action, as well as a nonpartisan adherence to facts and evidence,” she said.
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Why this matters: Tanden’s criticisms of GOP senators would have resulted in serious doubts about her confirmation if Republicans still held the Senate majority, but Democrats’ victories last month in two Georgia runoffs took the heat off some of the confirmation fight. Still, the first face-to-face confirmation meeting between Tanden and a slate of GOP senators was nonetheless something to anticipate on Tuesday.
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Up next for Tanden: She’s scheduled to testify Wednesday in a second confirmation hearing before the Senate Budget Committee. That committee is led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who Tanden has clashed with in the past.
The Hill’s Niv Elis has more here on Tuesday’s confirmation hearing.
GOOD TO KNOW:
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The stock market has been rallying as President Biden and congressional Democrats move forward on coronavirus relief legislation.
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Democrats will face an early test of unity in the coming weeks as they prepare a fiscal 2022 budget resolution.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that President Biden “sees the progressive movement as a strong part of his coalition,” even as recent economic-policy debates have revealed some divisions among Democrats.
ODDS AND ENDS:
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Illinois has cut its 2022 fiscal gap by $2.5 billion as the state fared better than expected this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Robinhood plans to focus its lobbying efforts on several bills that could impact its business model, including legislation that would create a financial transaction tax, CNBC reported.