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Congress is getting set to OK another trillion or three in spending sort of related to the pandemic, with not a lot more rhyme or reason than in prior rounds. These are routinely called “stimulus” bills, even though much of the spending is more like “life support” for an economy dramatically slowed by lockdowns and deep uncertainty about even the near future. That includes cash for Americans thrown out of work — which is relief money. The Paycheck Protection Program, meanwhile, bribes businesses to keep on employees they’d otherwise lay off — in hopes those companies and workers will be...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday assailed Republican “disarray” over a new pandemic relief package as the White House suggested a narrower effort might be necessary, at least for now. The California Democrat panned the Trump administration’s desire to trim an expiring temporary federal unemployment benefit from $600 weekly to about 70% of pre-pandemic wages. “The reason we had $600 was its simplicity,” she said from the Capitol. The administration’s chief negotiators — White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — spent a few hours at the Capitol later Sunday to put what Meadows described...

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday said the next phase of the Wuhan coronavirus relief package is ready to be rolled out on Monday. Republicans are expected to announce a $1 trillion proposal which would include another round of stimulus checks. According to Mnuchin, Americans can anticipate a $1,200 stimulus check sometime in August. The same stipulations will take place as the first round of stimulus payments. Individuals making $75,000 or less will receive $1,200. Those making more than $75,000 will receive some type of stimulus but it won't be the full amount. Those making $100,000 or more per year...

The Defense Department’s inspector general who was appointed to oversee spending from the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus signed last week by President Donald Trump has been fired from his watchdog role at the Pentagon, according to a report by Politico. Reports say Trump removed Glenn Fine from his role as the acting inspector general, meaning the career government official is now ineligible to serve on the stimulus oversight board charged with monitoring spending and preventing any mishandling of the public’s relief funds. By law, only current inspectors general can serve on the audit panel. Fine’s appointment as the chair of...

The Treasury Department said late Wednesday that Social Security recipients who typically don't file tax returns will automatically receive their coronavirus relief checks and will not have to file tax returns to receive their payments

The IRS has established a special section focused on steps to help taxpayers, businesses and others affected by the coronavirus. This page will be updated as new information is available. For other information about the COVID-19 virus, people should visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (https://www.coronavirus.gov) for health information. Other information about actions being taken by the U.S. government is available at https://www.usa.gov/coronavirus and in Spanish at https://gobierno.usa.gov/coronavirus. The Department of Treasury also has information available at Coronavirus: Resources, Updates, and What You Should Know. Economic Impact Payments: What you need to know The distribution of economic...