I don't think the plan was ever to cut $2000 checks
Trump threw that number out there while he was still President, and the Senate while it was in Republican hands could only be moved to pass an additional $600
Dems latched onto it, however, made it an issue in the GA runoffs to help recapture the Senate, and made passing the additional $1400 (for a total of $2000) a priority, which was a brilliant move.
In the end, Senate Dems weren't negotiating with Republicans: they were negotiating with Joe Manchin, basically, whose key 50th vote could have sunk the whole thing. They pushed Manchin just as far as he would go and made this $1.9 trillion package as big and sweeping as possible.
So, I don't fault the Dems at all for how they played this.
That is my understanding of it anyway
