Will The $600 Extra Unemployment Be Extended?

It's official: The $600 in supplemental unemployment benefits is expiring today, before an extension has been guaranteed in Congress. Most people have already seen their last federal unemployment payments come through because of the way weekly unemployment schedules work, leaving millions of Americans anxious about their immediate future. Lawmakers have been debating whether to renew the unemployment boost all week - but where do we stand now? What happens next week, now that the provision has officially expired?

Not well. According to The Hill, lawmakers aren't close to a deal. In a meeting last night, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin apparently did suggest an extension of the $600 - for a week. This pointless gesture was dismissed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who was also in the meeting, countered with a four-month extension. Pelosi and Schumer rejoined with an extension through Q1 of 2021. This was rejected by Mnuchin and Meadows.

Both Meadows and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took to Twitter to slam the Democrats standing firm on a longer unemployment extension. McCarthy wrote, "Republicans just tried to extend unemployment insurance for the millions of Americans who are out of work and counting on extra support each week. Chuck and Nancy said no. And now Democrats are going home for the weekend... while they continue to collect a paycheck." It's a puzzling criticism, considering that Senate Republicans left for the weekend on Thursday.

How long will it take lawmakers come to a decision?

There's now a week left before Congress goes into recess until September. The frenzied hustle to pass the next stimulus package, like many other things about COVID-19 in the U.S., could have been avoided. The CARES Act was passed on March 27th, and there were immediate calls in Congress for another plan that would guarantee regular income for struggling households. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) introduced the Emergency Money for the People Act in mid-April, proposing a monthly stimulus payment of $2,000 for at least six months. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced the Paycheck Guarantee Act, a measure that would have covered companies' payrolls for at least three months, reducing the number of layoffs and the demand on unemployment offices. Many European countries quickly enacted a paycheck protection scheme that prevented layoffs and the kind of shocking effect on the economy that the U.S. is grappling with now.