Now that the third round of stimulus has been implemented in waves, with nearly 160 million distributed to individuals and households so far, Americans may be wondering if there is more relief in the future in the form of a fourth round of stimulus checks or some sort of regular stimulus payments

Congress has been working on a number of issues, including the following

While there has been no meaningful movement in Congress to increase the stimulus package, there have been rumors of the possibility or need for additional bailouts during the pandemic Here are some reasons why this may or may not be the case

Additional or continued payments have some support in Congress At least two groups of progressive members of both the House and Senate are pressuring the Biden administration to support additional stimulus payments

More than 50 House Democrats sent a letter to the White House in January urging that the $19 trillion American Rescue Plan include regular direct payments

In late March, 21 Senate Democrats, including several party leaders, sent a similar letter urging Biden to include regular stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits in the infrastructure bill known as the "Build Better" plan

Neither proposal mentions specific amounts or eligibility requirements

Left-leaning policy groups have also expressed support for more relief measures The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center has stated that one more check would further reduce the number of people living in poverty; the Economic Security Project has also stated that the economic Economic Security Project also calls for continued payments that are linked to economic conditions

Stimulus checks are popular with voters: a Morning Consult/Politico poll in early March found that the $300 weekly continuous unemployment benefit and one-time stimulus package included in the American Rescue Plan Act had majority support among voters of all parties majority support In an earlier poll conducted by the left-leaning Data for Progress, 65% of voters said they would support a regular $2,000 bailout check

While stimulus checks are popular in some quarters, the idea of an ongoing bailout has not gained serious traction

For one thing, the Biden administration has not included additional direct payments in its infrastructure plan, nor has it indicated plans to support such a proposal Moreover, the proposed additional stimulus checks would likely not have enough votes to pass in the Senate

There are also indicators that suggest that with the economy recovering so quickly, additional stimulus may not be necessary: retail sales soared in March, in part because of the $1,400 check that was spent, and unemployment insurance claims fell to a pandemic-era low earlier this month

The CDC reported that as of April 19, more than half of American adults had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Finally, some economists worry that additional stimulus will cause inflation and do more harm than good While the Federal Reserve has stated that the recent increase in inflation is only temporary, some are concerned about the long-term effects on the market