Your stimulus check will probably be delayed because Trump wants his name on it. Yep.

In an unprecedented move, the United States Treasury Department has ordered President Donald Trump's name to be printed on all stimulus checks sent to the country's citizens. The $1200 checks, a cornerstone of the federal government's stimulus package to ensure citizens are able to stay afloat during the looming economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, are due to reach citizens in the upcoming days. However, it has been suspected that there may be delays. While the Treasury Department denies that this will cause a delay in when Americans can expect to receive their checks, senior officials believe otherwise, The Washington Post reports.

This will be the first time that a President's name appears on an IRS disbursement. In the past, a President's name has not appeared on any such return, whether that be a routine refund or one of the several checks that the federal government has issued taxpayers in the recent past to either expand an economy in recession or "share the dividends" of a rising economy. Nonetheless, breaking Presidential protocol, "President Donald J. Trump” will appear on the left side of the check that citizens receive. The decision was finalized on Monday after Trump reportedly made the suggestion to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to three administration officials.

While this seems like just another PR stunt for the President, there is one catch. The United States President is not authorized to sign for legal disbursements made by the country's Treasury Department. As per standard practice, civil servants usually sign such checks issued by the US Treasury in order to maintain non-partisanship. The decision to do otherwise, therefore, is rather dubious. "Taxes are supposed to be nonpolitical, and it’s that simple," stated Nina Olson, who recently stepped down as the National Taxpayer Advocate after an 18-year tenure. "It’s absolutely unprecedented." Several individuals view the inclusion of Trump's name as "an abuse of government resources."

In addition to this, two senior officials of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) suggested that the move would cause a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks, which are being sent to those for whom the IRS does not have banking information. Many of these recipients have low incomes. Chad Hooper, the national president of the IRS’s Professional Managers Association who also serves as a quality-control manager, explained, "Any last minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay." The printing of President Trump's name on the checks requires special computer code which must then be tested. This will, as one would assume, take longer than following the usual protocol.

Nonetheless, a representative from the Treasury Department has denied the claims. She affirmed in a written statement, "Economic Impact Payment checks are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned - there is absolutely no delay whatsoever. In fact, we expect the first checks to be in the mail early next week which is well in advance of when the first checks went out in 2008 and well in advance of initial estimates." The stimulus checks are at present scheduled to be sent to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for printing and issuing on Thursday.