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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is asking Congress to approve two massive $250 billion waves of checks to Americans to counteract the coronavirus — hoping to send the first batch in just over two weeks, sources told The Post.

A Treasury Department request to Capitol Hill asks for a start date of April 6 and a second batch on May 18, a source said.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has been the key White House negotiator with Congress on economic stimulus steps.

The checks are included in a $1 trillion administration proposal that also seeks $50 billion in loans for airlines now facing a post-9/11-style crash in demand due to COVID-19.

The Senate is expected to approve a different bundle of response measures Wednesday including expanded sick leave for workers, free virus testing, aid to states and food assistance. An initial $8.3 billion bill became law this month.

President Trump announced his support for cutting checks to workers Tuesday after Democrats balked at his proposal for a temporary payroll tax cut. White House officials have pushed for checks of more than $1,000 per taxpayer.

Senate Democrats pushed Wednesday for expanded employment instead of direct payments.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that if there were direct checks, $1,000 would not be enough and the amounts would have to be “bigger, more frequent and more targeted.”

Some Republicans say expanding unemployment pay could unintentionally result in even more people losing their jobs.

“What you don’t want to do is create perverse incentives for people to lose their jobs and you could inadvertently do exactly that,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). “If an employer is taken off the hook so to speak by unemployment insurance, then they’re going to lay people off.”

The number of confirmed U.S. cases passed 7,000 on Wednesday. New York has the highest number of confirmed cases with nearly 2,400.