Fourth stimulus check coming? Pelosi says child tax credit payments are stimulus checks

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that child tax credit payments are stimulus checks, when asked if the Democratic-Congress is considering including a fourth stimulus payment in their $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.

"We have a stimulus check that will out on the 15th. The child tax credit will go out on the 15th of October. We just had the September check," Pelosi said after speaking at an art exhibit on the National Mall with white flags commemorating the lives lost due to COVID-19.

A Change.org petition calling on Congress to pass another stimulus payment in the amount of $2,000 has garnered almost 3 million signatures. 

During the pandemic, Congress issued $1,200 stimulus payments and $600 payments to all Americans, under former President Trump. President Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that passed in March included $1,400 stimulus payments.

The same legislation also expanded the child tax credit and allowed individuals and families to claim a refund of up to $3,600 per child based on their income. Tax filers without income are also eligible to claim the credit due to the expansion. Eligible tax filers can also apply for automatic advance payments of the child tax credit for the first time.