US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Donald Trump as “shameful” Wednesday after it emerged that the president’s name will be printed on stimulus cheques, potentially delaying payments to Americans struggling during the coronavirus crisis.
The Treasury Department confirmed to AFP that Trump’s name will be printed on paper cheques of up to $1,200 that soon will be rushed out to tens of millions of people.
The unprecedented Treasury order could delay the cheque process by a few days, The Washington Post reported late Tuesday, citing senior Internal Revenue Service officials.
“Delaying direct payments to vulnerable families just to print his name on the check is another shameful example of President Trump’s catastrophic failure to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Other Democratic lawmakers and members of the public joined in the criticism online, some attacking Trump for politicising an election-year crisis.
The president downplayed the controversy when asked about it during his evening press conference.
“Well I don’t know too much about it but I understand my name is there,” Trump said.
“I don’t know where they’re going, how they’re going. I do understand it’s not delaying anything and I’m satisfied with that.”
He added: “I don’t imagine it’s a big deal. I’m sure people will be very happy to get a big fat beautiful check and my name is on it.”
The payments stem from a $2 trillion emergency rescue package crafted by congressional Democrats, Republicans and the White House that Trump signed into law in late March.
The massive bill, the largest of its kind ever passed by Congress, was aimed at delivering urgently needed relief to millions of American families and businesses devastated by the deadly pandemic.
Trump himself had said on April 3 that he was not interested in signing the cheques.
“It’s a Trump administration initiative, but do I want to sign them? No,” he said during a daily coronavirus task force briefing.
The cheques feature Trump’s name, not his signature.
