GOP senators oppose extra unemployment benefits, but letting them expire could be politically perilous
Forty million Americans are unemployed and extra unemployment benefits expire at the end of next month. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are grappling with deep ideological divisions over what to do with the popular program in the middle of a pandemic and an election year.
Many Republicans think that the extra money simply makes it less enticing for Americans to go back to work — already a concern for people considering the dangers of being infected by coronavirus in the workplace. Fights over unemployment benefits amid a recession have long been politically charged, pitting the need to aid a reeling population against against Republicans’ decadeslong efforts to shrink government. And some in the GOP concede that Congress can’t just cut off that relief money cold turkey.
“The unemployment rate is still going to be pretty high, maybe for some time. Even as the economy starts to open up and expand again, it will take a while for some of the jobs to come back,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune . “So I suspect the program will be needed for a while. We’ll have to come up [with] some sort of solution.
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