Biden plans a 3rd wave of executive actions for Friday, including increased food stamps and pushing the Treasury to hand out stimulus checks faster

President Joe Biden signs three documents on January 20, 2021, the day of his inauguration.

JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

• President Biden is planning a series of moves Friday to increase payments to combat hunger and poverty. 
• An official said they include larger food stamp payments and pressure to get more stimulus checks issued. 
• Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief package to Congress which includes far bolder moves.
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President Joe Biden is planning a new wave of executive actions Friday  to bolster food aid to people struggling with hunger amid the coronavirus pandemic, and to push for more comprehensive delivery of stimulus checks. 

The actions are far narrower in scope than the $1.9 trillion relief package Biden has proposed. But the actions, including some executive orders, can be taken immediately.

A new stimulus package requires votes in Congress that could take several weeks and will likely face Republican opposition.

"The American people can't afford to wait, and so many are hanging by a thread. They need help," Brian Deese, Biden's economic advisor, told multiple news outlets in a briefing on Thursday.

Here are some of the measures Biden is planning, per reports out Friday morning in The Washington Post, NPR and CNBC: 

• To tell the Agriculture Department, which administers the food stamps program, to increase benefits available to families who are normally reliant on school meals by 15%. 
• To expand access to the enhanced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, lifting the food stamps of some of the poorest by about 15% a month. 
• To tell the Treasury to speed up the delivery of stimulus checks to those who are eligible but have not yet received them. (Biden also wants a new round of checks, but needs Congress to approve them.)
• To shield workers from losing their federal benefits if they turn down a job because it would substantially increase their risk of getting COVID-19. 

Read more: Joe Biden is hiring about 4,000 political staffers to work in his administration. Here's how 3 experts say you can boost your chances of getting one of those jobs.

Since Biden took office on Wednesday he has issued a series of executive orders and other actions designed to undo Trump administration policies, and to address the coronavirus crisis and the frail state of the US economy. 

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