Fourth stimulus check in doubt as government cash runs out and support for more payment wanes

THE fight for a fourth round of stimulus checks looks tougher than ever as cash support from the government dries up.

Plans for another lot of payments to be made to hard-hit Americans have been thrown into question as money looks to be running out.

Payments totaling more than $2billion hit bank accounts across the US last week as the IRS sent out a further 1.1million payments as part of Joe Biden's Covid relief package.

But, to date, that's the smallest amount handed out since the third round of checks started going out on March 12.

As the cash dwindles it is further casting doubt over the likelihood of a fourth round happening to help cash-strapped Americans.

It comes as hope continues to grow that Congress will approve another lot of stimulus checks as part of the President's next stimulus package.

More than 75 lawmakers now support a further round of stimulus checks, possibly with recurring monthly payments until the end of the pandemic.

As of this week, a Change.org petition for monthly recurring checks of $2,000 has racked up over two million signatures and appeared on Change.org'st of the top 10 petitions that changed 2020.

The petition was started by Denver, Colorado-based restaurant owner Stephanie Bonin last year.

Support for the proposal has continued to grow since January, when Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and 55 other Democratic legislators stressed the need for recurring payments in a letter to President Biden.

"Recurring payments would provide a long-term lifeline to struggling Americans for the duration of this deadly pandemic,” the letter read.

"We need $2,000 recurring checks until the end of the pandemic. I joined @TimRyan, @MichaelDTubbs, Stephanie Bonin, and Natalie Foster to push for $2,000 recurring payments for Americans until the economy is fully recovered," Omar tweeted in February in support of the Bonin's petition.

A January study from Data for Progress found the proposal is also popular with the American people, with 65 percent of those surveyed expressing support for recurring monthly $2,000 payments.

In another letter sent to President Biden on March 2, 11 Democratic senators including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders pushed for recurring monthly payments.

The letter cited an Urban Institute study that concluded just one additional $1,200 check, along with additional unemployment insurance, could keep 12 million Americans above the poverty line.

According to Newsweek, online searches for "Biden fourth stimulus" and related terms skyrocketed by 250 percent during Biden's speech to Congress marking his hundredth day in office.

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