The White House has decided to use the power of the office to remind Americans, by direct mail, that it shares responsibility for giving them money.
According to the details, tens of millions of Americans who received the third round of stimulus checks thanks to the Democrats’ American Rescue Plan will be reminded of that fact in a letter from President Joe Biden.
The recipients of the letter sent via the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be relieved to find not a request for back taxes but self-praise of promises made and promises kept.
“A key part of the American Rescue Plan is direct payments of $1,400 per person for most American households,” Biden wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Insider. “This fulfills a promise I made to you, and will help get Americans through the crisis.”
The IRS continues to distribute the third round of stimulus checks to Americans as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, the latest relief package to help with the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden is expected to lay out details of the American Family Plan, a $1.8 trillion piece of legislation that is expected to address education, child care and paid family leave. That legislation is also likely to include an extension of the child tax credit, through 2025.
“When I took office, I promised the American people that help was on the way,” Biden wrote. “The American Rescue Plan makes good on that promise.”
The IRS reported Wednesday that 163 total direct payments have been sent out so far, totaling about $384 billion.
Noah Bookbinder, the president of Crew told Insider, “This trend toward presidents sending self-serving signed letters at taxpayer expense is unfortunate regardless of who does it.”
“I hope that President Biden will not learn the wrong lessons from his predecessor and continue this kind of tactic,” Bookbinder added.
The letter is identical in formatting to one sent by former President Donald Trump along with the first round of stimulus checks in April 2020.