President Joe Biden is being pinched by Democratic pressure to provide a safety net for jobless workers and Republican complaints about social welfare after a softer-than-expected April jobs report.
That pressure was personified this week when Biden, while touting how his $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending package extended expanded federal unemployment insurance of $300 a week until Sept. 6, pledged to collaborate with states to crack down on alleged abuses of the program.
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Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse was quick to claim Biden was “all over the place on unemployment insurance” as he faces criticism that the benefits are disincentivizing people from seeking work.
“He wants to go after folks who are gaming the system, but he’s denying the reality that his policies are making the situation worse so he’s trying to make struggling businesses the boogeymen,” Sasse said in a statement.
The potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate added, “Instead of making unemployment pay more than work, we ought to convert the emergency unemployment payments into signing bonuses.”
Republican leaders around the country have voiced similar concerns about the generosity of the unemployment benefits, particularly after some Democrats suggested businesses simply raise wages. The governors of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Montana have all signaled their intention to roll back the benefits.
For University of Central Florida politics professor Aubrey Jewett, the extra unemployment insurance has been necessary, and it is popular, but the public and economy were now transitioning to a new phase of the pandemic.
But Jewett was sympathetic toward the Republican talking point because a person working 40 hours a week for $10 in Florida would be better off not working and accepting the state’s $275 check, supplemented with Biden’s $300.
“It’s not surprising that [Biden]’s struggling to explain the policy, and to defend the policy, and also to perhaps figure out exactly what is the best thing to do right now,” he said, specifically given each state’s different predicaments.
“A lot of this is about expectations,” he continued, referring to whether the April jobs report was a blip or the start of a trend. “If the next jobs report is soft, Democrats, progressives, Joe Biden himself, will probably say look, ‘This is one more reason why we need to move forward with my infrastructure and jobs plan because clearly, the country needs more help.'”
Yet, Charles Bierbauer, a veteran reporter and the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications dean emeritus, contended Republicans were similarly “all over the place” regarding the unemployment benefits.
“South Carolina, under [Gov. Henry] McMaster and his predecessor, Nikki Haley, also rejected expanding Medicaid. So, it follows a pattern of turning down federal assistance, even though the benefits may help South Carolinians,” he said, noting McMaster was a Trump ally.
“Let’s also not forget that the enhanced unemployment benefit was initiated during the Trump administration,” he went on. “Was it a good idea then and a bad idea now?”
Biden has been defensive regarding his unemployment insurance policy since April’s jobs report found the economy only added 266,000 jobs, despite a spike in available positions. Goldman Sachs had estimated 1.3 million because of high vaccination rates and eased social distancing restrictions.
The jobs report was coupled with an announcement that March’s numbers had been revised downward, kneecapping an administration eager to return to pre-pandemic employment by next year. In fact, unemployment rose to 6.1% from March’s 6%, with reopenings not immediately bridging the 8 million job gap to return to the 152.5 million peak in February 2020.
“We’re going to make it clear that anyone collecting unemployment who is offered a suitable job must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits,” Biden said Monday at the White House. “There are a few COVID-19-related exceptions so that people aren’t forced to choose between their basic safety and a paycheck, but, otherwise, that’s the law.”
While Biden argues the spending package prevented a worse economic slump, his remarks indirectly acknowledge Republican worries about his unemployment insurance.
“I think people who claim Americans won’t work, even if they find a good and fair opportunity, underestimate the American people,” he said. “So we’ll insist that the law is followed with respect to benefits. But we’re not going to turn our backs on our fellow Americans.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki preempted Biden by listing “a number of other factors that have a larger impact” than the program. Psaki named vaccinations, child care shortages, and the demand for state and local funding as part of her explanation.
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The Biden administration this week also sent $350 billion to state and local governments to assist with payroll or pandemic responses. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to use some of that money for $600 stimulus checks before his recall challenge after posting a $75.7 billion budget surplus.
