President Donald Trump is doubling down on his promise to send $5,000 checks to American adults if Republicans keep control of Congress in November.
He first made the promise at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas last week.
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On Sunday, before leaving Ireland, Trump insisted the checks would happen.
“Now they say, ‘Oh, the $5,000,’ $5,000 is going to happen 100%,” Trump said. “And the reason is because our country is taking in trillions and trillions of dollars. And it’s going to happen because the people deserve it because they were treated so badly by the Democrats and by Biden.”
Congressional approval required
But there’s a major hurdle between that promise and actually sending the money.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the plan would need congressional approval, something Trump has said he doesn’t believe is necessary.
Asked Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he would commit to delivering the checks, Johnson said Congress would work to find consensus on the plan.
“Like every idea that the president comes up with, he’s a great idea generator. We’re gonna process that in Congress and figure it all out,” Johnson said. “I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that, like they have to do everything else.”
The proposal could cost more than $1 trillion if enacted.
Republican pushback
There’s already some Republican pushback.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that if the government has surplus revenue, it should cut taxes and return that money to people.
“What I don’t think you want to do is borrow another trillion-and-a-half dollars and then just try to flood that into the economy, because that will lead to more inflation,” DeSantis said. “That will lead to more debt and more inflation.”
The proposal comes comes as Trump’s approval rating has fallen since earlier this year.
An AP-NORC poll in July found that 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s job performance, down from 42% when he took office.
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