Last April, at the height of the first wave of the pandemic that's gone on to kill over half a million Americans, Congress passed a stimulus bill that allotted $1200 checks to most Americans making under $75 thousand per year.
But as the Americans to whom the checks were promised still struggled to make ends meet, former President Donald Trump faced backlash for further delaying them in order to ensure that his name appeared on the checks. For those who received direct deposits, Trump sent a letter making sure to credit himself with the long-awaited relief.
Now, the Democratic-led House of Representatives is set to pass the Senate version of the latest pandemic relief package—the American Rescue Plan—after months of wrangling.
The plan will include $1400 checks to millions of Americans—but they won't be signed by President Joe Biden.
When asked if Biden would follow Trump's precedent of delaying the checks to add his own signature, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had a heartening response.
Watch below.
Press secretary Jen Psaki: "We are doing everything in our power to expedite the payments and not delay them, which… https://t.co/3Of8jao8Sx— USA TODAY (@USA TODAY) 1615317133.0
Psaki said:
"We are doing everything in our power to expedite the payments and not delay them, which is why the president's name will not appear on the memo line of this round of stimulus checks. ... This is not about him. This is about the American people getting relief."
Many found the news to be a welcome change to the vanity displayed by Trump.
Unlike the former guy and his sharpie. https://t.co/HRzaAtWX1u— Barbara Malmet (@Barbara Malmet) 1615319552.0
Unlike the other guy who had to delay them for a campaign push. https://t.co/izSBGcU7sw— Jay White (@Jay White) 1615319358.0
No ego stroking here https://t.co/9TdgoXdFXM— Hollow Dan-O (@Hollow Dan-O) 1615320768.0
In other words, Biden is not a childish narcissist with a fragile ego. https://t.co/L68DgClHPe— Diane Toucan (@Diane Toucan) 1615319335.0
When seemingly small details are, in fact, rather large in light of 45 & his hubris https://t.co/i1dtxh5ZR6— Mostly Mammoths (@Mostly Mammoths) 1615319272.0
Cuando lo importante es ayudar a los ciudadanos y no el lucimiento personal. https://t.co/pE9SPm1qy4— MOISES GONZALEZ (@MOISES GONZALEZ) 1615317684.0
Twitter users claimed to know why Biden arrived at that decision.
That's because he's not an orange buffoon. https://t.co/KW9SFLICzn— mdhh-USA. (@mdhh-USA.) 1615321318.0
Because Bidens a grown ass man who don't need attention like a entitled pos known as the former guy🤷🏿♂ https://t.co/ORrFzhpfH9— LexiG (@LexiG) 1615317932.0
@kylegriffin1 That’s because President Biden isn’t narcissistic.— Jewell (@Jewell) 1615317712.0
Psaki alerted the White House correspondents that the checks would be signed by "a career official at the Bureau of Fiscal Service."