Over 156 million stimulus checks have gone out from the latest stimulus - fulfilling a key 100-day goal for Biden ahead of schedule

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Over 156 million stimulus checks have gone out from the latest stimulus - fulfilling a key 100-day goal for Biden ahead of schedule
Economic stimulus checks are prepared for printing at the Philadelphia Financial Center May 8, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Jeff Fusco/Stringer
  • The IRS and Treasury have sent out more than 156 million stimulus checks, according to a statement.
  • This fulfills Biden's goal to send 150 million payments in his first 100 days in office just 77 days in.
  • The IRS plans to send checks for non-filers in the Veterans Affairs database next week.
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The Biden administration has cleared its goal of delivering more than 150 million economic relief payments in the first 100 days of the president's first term. It has now been 77 days since Biden's inauguration on January 20.

The IRS and the Treasury Department have sent out more than 156 million stimulus checks, according to a Wednesday press release, amounting to roughly $372 billion in fiscal support.

The fourth batch of checks began processing on Friday and are set to be paid out today. The batch consists of about 25 million payments worth roughly $36 billion, the IRS said. Most of the latest set of payments were sent to Social Security beneficiaries who didn't file 2020 or 2019 tax returns and didn't use the IRS' non-filers tool to receive stimulus payments last year.

More than 3 million checks were sent to Supplemental Security Income recipients, and nearly 85,000 payments were delivered to Railroad Retirement Board beneficiaries, the IRS said.

Checks began reaching households on March 12, just one day after President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law. The president said earlier in his term that he aimed to dole out relief payments, accelerate vaccinations, and reopen schools during his first 100 days in office. The first two goals have been met, and with the majority of school teachers and staff now vaccinated, Biden's final target is within reach.

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Nearly 24 million of the payments in the latest batch will arrive as direct deposits, with the remainder reaching Americans as paper checks.

The IRS is still reviewing data from the Department of Veterans Affairs to send payments to people who don't normally file tax returns. The IRS and Treasury created a non-filers tool earlier in the pandemic to target such populations, but Americans without tax returns on record still face longer waits to receive their relief payments.

The IRS expects to begin processing VA payments at the end of the week, and recipients can expect to see direct deposits starting April 14.

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