WASHINGTON • Millions of Americans have lost their unemployment coverage after United States President Donald Trump resisted signing a sweeping US$900 billion (S$1.2 trillion) aid package until lawmakers more than tripled the size of relief cheques, putting the fate of the measure in limbo.
Mr Trump's resistance to signing the Bill risks leaving millions of unemployed Americans without crucial benefits, jeopardises other critical assistance for businesses and families set to lapse at the end of the year, and raises the possibility of a government shutdown tomorrow.
The President blindsided lawmakers last week when he described as "a disgrace" a relief compromise that overwhelmingly passed both Chambers and was negotiated by his own Treasury Secretary.
Mr Trump hinted he might veto the measure unless lawmakers raised the Bill's US$600 direct payment cheques to US$2,000.
The President, who was largely absent from negotiations over the compromise, doubled down on that criticism on Saturday while offering little clarity on his plans.
A White House spokesman declined to indicate what Mr Trump intended to do. "I simply want to get our great people US$2,000, rather than the measly US$600 that is now in the Bill," Mr Trump said on Twitter on Saturday.
President-elect Joe Biden criticised Mr Trump on Saturday for refusing to sign the Bill. Mr Biden said that as many as 10 million people will lose their unemployment insurance benefits amid a pandemic that has infected nearly 19 million Americans and killed more than 331,000.
About 14 million people have been receiving unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programmes.
"It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don't know if they'll be able to make ends meet," Mr Biden said. "This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences."
If Mr Trump does not sign the US$2.3 trillion spending package, which includes the US$900 billion in pandemic aid as well as funding to keep the government open past today, coverage under two federal jobless programmes that expanded and extended benefits will have ended on Saturday for millions of unemployed workers.
The consequences of such a delay are dire, said economists, policy experts and lawmakers.
Some warned that any resolution at this point may be too late for families who will have lost their only lifeline shielding them from the brunt of the pandemic's economic toll, and will further burden overwhelmed state unemployment agencies.
"Foreclosures, hunger, homelessness, suicide," said Ms Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, a non-profit workers' rights group. "There will be very permanent things that happen to people that can't be fixed by a cheque in three weeks."
Democrats plan to vote today on new legislation to codify the US$2,000 payments for most American adults and children.
They could also vote on another stopgap measure to fund the government past the current spending deadline of midnight today.
While that would avert a government shutdown if the Senate also passes it and the President signs it, it is still unclear what Mr Trump plans to do with the larger pandemic relief and annual spending Bill that Congress passed last Monday.
NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
