Trump has said that he would like to see his name printed on paper stimulus checks approved by Congress in response to the coronavirus and it looks like he'll get his wish, but checks will be delayed because of it.
The Washington Post first reported last night that adding Trump's name could delay the checks for days and may mean Americans will end up waiting an additional week to receive them.
The decision to have the paper checks bear Trump’s name, in the works for weeks, according to a Treasury official, was announced early Tuesday to the IRS’s information technology team. The team, working from home, is now racing to implement a programming change that two senior IRS officials said will probably lead to a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks. They are scheduled to be sent Thursday to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for printing and issuing.
Computer code must be changed to include the president’s name, and the system must be tested, these officials said. “Any last-minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay,” said Chad Hooper, a quality-control manager who serves as national president of the IRS’s Professional Managers Association.
A few days may not seem like a long time, but you may recall that officials have already acknowledged that the last people to receive their checks may not receive them until nearly September. With its current staff and budget, the IRS is only able to process about 5 million checks per week.
The first batch of paper checks is not expected to be mailed until the first week of May, but if printing doesn't begin today it could mean millions of Americans will end up waiting an additional week to receive a check.
Another week of waiting means more bills that many people won't be able to pay, but the important thing is that Trump's cursed name will appear at the bottom of every check.
The primary reason these checks are even necessary is because Trump's self-centered dithering and failure to contain the virus necessitated a nearly-nationwide economic shutdown.