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Biden agrees to limit eligibility for $1,400 direct payments

Yahoo Finance's Jessica Smith joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the latest news regarding stimulus talks in D.C.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: We want to get to DC because President Biden today meeting with Senate Democrats. This, of course, comes as they try to push through that one point trillion-- $1.9 trillion stimulus package this week. Jessica Smith has those details for us. And Jess, where do things stand?

JESSICA SMITH: Well, in that meeting today, I think you'll see that these lawmakers are going to be talking about these changes to the stimulus checks that we've learned about today. Today, we learned that President Biden has agreed to some changes to the income caps for stimulus check eligibility. So fewer people will be eligible for stimulus checks under this new plan.

The new plan changed the income caps from $100,000 for individuals that was in the House bill to $80,000. So if a person is making more than $80,000, they would not qualify for the direct payments. For couples, for joint filers, $160,000 is now the income cap. That was $200,000 in the House bill.

We also now know what the unemployment benefits are going to look like in the package. They're expected to be $400 a week. That federal boost-- and that will last until the end of August. Now there had been some debate about this. Moderate Democrats were wanting to further target the stimulus checks and take that weekly boost from $400 down to $300. It looks like at this point, the $400 a week is going to stay in place. But that stimulus check, again, they are narrowing the window there.

The White House was asked about this during the briefing today. A reporter asked if President Biden is living up to his promises, if people would be concerned that they got two stimulus checks before, but now they're not going to qualify. And here's what the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had to say.

JEN PSAKI: But he also knows that the sausage making machine sometimes spits out a different package, almost always spits out a different package than what is proposed initially. These are negotiations primarily through Democrats in Congress with each other. But he's a part of-- you know, he rolls up his sleeves. He gets involved in them, too. And he's confident that this is a package with all of the components included that-- and he's hopeful that Democrats of all political backgrounds can get behind.

JESSICA SMITH: Now the Senate could start considering the bill as soon as this evening. There will be some procedural votes before they get to the actual passage. And one thing that Senate Republicans are now planning, they are planning to actually read the full bill, which could take up to 10 hours, so another tactic to try and delay things. We'll see if that actually comes to fruition, but that's what Senate Republicans are talking about at the moment. Adam and Seana.