Some senators are pushing for more “targeted” payments.

With the pipeline toward President Joe Biden’s relief plans becoming clearer, it is becoming increasingly likely that US citizens will be receiving a third stimulus payment at some point in the near future. Biden has taken a hard line stance on the amount of the payments, saying he will not accept anything less than $1,400 per.

“I’m not cutting the size of the checks,” Biden said. “They’re going to be $1,400 — period. That’s what the American people were promised.”

However, while the amount of the checks has been rather definitively decided upon, who exactly will be receiving payments is still under consideration. The previous stimulus payment included stricter income requirements in order to receive it than its predecessor, and according to some Republican and conservative Democrat senators, those requirements should be narrowed further. These senators are pushing for more “targeted” payments to citizens who are in more dire need than others, and have suggested capping eligibility at a $50,000 annual income.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has disagreed with this notion, saying that eligibility should cap at $60,000 annually at the very least. “If you think about an elementary school teacher or a policeman making $60,000 a year and faced with children who are out of school and people who may have had to withdraw from the labor force in order to take care of them and many extra burdens, the president thinks, and I would certainly agree, that it’s appropriate for people there to get support,” Yellen said.

“President Biden is certainly willing to work with members of Congress to define what’s fair and he wouldn’t want to see a household making over $300,000 receive these payments,” she added.

The process to pass the overall plan is still running, and based on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s estimate, both the plan and the third stimulus payments should be passed by the end of the month.