Senate Dems Raise Concerns About Coronavirus Payouts to Social Security Recipients

Several Senate Democrats are raising concerns about the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s reported slow coronavirus relief payouts to social security recipients.

Based on the deadlines in place this week, social security recipients could face months-long delays in receiving the $500 payment for children if they did not act by April 22.

In a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul on Thursday, Senate Democrats asked for assurance that social security recipients be paid “as quickly as possible.”

“To continue assisting struggling families during the COVID-19 crisis, we strongly urge your agencies to ensure that non-filers receive their stimulus payments – including additional payments for dependent children – as quickly as possible,” the letter read.

The letter — signed by 40 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — comes just days after the deadline was announced by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

On April 20, the federal agency tweeted to encourage Social Security and railroad retirement beneficiaries to use the online resource to add eligible children for Economic Impact Payments.

However, the announcement only gave Americans 48 hours to complete the process.

According to the IRS, the $500 payout for each child would not be included with social security recipients’ coronavirus relief payments if dependents’ information was not provided. Democrats expressed concerns about the short deadline, arguing that many recipients may not receive their full award until some time in 2021.

“We urge your agencies to continue providing access to the Non-Filers tool after non-filers have received their initial automatic stimulus payments so that these economically vulnerable individuals can request and receive additional payments for dependent children prior to 2021,” the Senators wrote.

Senators are urging the Treasury to “find another way forward that – without delaying any automatic $1,200 payments – ensures that these Social Security beneficiaries and their children quickly receive the full amount of cash assistance for which they are eligible.”

Despite possible barriers the Treasury could face, Democrats insist there is no need to delay payouts.

They wrote, “We do not believe that the IRS needs to delay – nor would we support delaying – any automatic $1,200 payments to non-filers in order to achieve this goal.”