Trump and Republicans pursue extension for key unemployment programme in first signs of coronavirus action in months

Senate Republicans and the White House have engaged in talks this week about extending the beefed-up unemployment benefits programme – which sends cash payments directly to Americans – installed this spring to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis on people who have been laid off.

A stopgap extension of the programme — which expires at the end of July and has provided $600 per week to millions of laid-off Americans — would be the first piece of coronavirus legislation the Republican-controlled Senate has passed in months, after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided in May to hit "pause" on negotiations towards further relief.

"We're discussing that," Republican Lamar Alexander, Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee chairman, told Bloomberg, which first reported the discussions between the Senate GOP and White House.

Senate GOP Conference Chairman John Barrasso told reporters a stopgap extension for the unemployment programme is in the works, but “the question is length and price in total dollars.”

In March, Congress approved $600 in federal relief per week for recently laid-off workers in addition to what states already provide them. Since the US unemployment rate soared to 14.7 per cent in April, it has inched back down to 11.1 per cent, still several points above what economists consider a healthy figure for the economy.

Before the pandemic, the US unemployment rate had hovered around a record low for the century of 3.5 per cent.

Democrats complained that a stopgap measure extend the $600 per week federal unemployment benefit just meant Republicans were kicking the can down the road.

"I would prefer to reach agreement on a comprehensive response to the crisis" based on the $3trn bill House Democrats passed in May, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told The Independent in a statement.

"I am deeply concerned that Republican divisions are holding up negotiations when millions of Americans are on the brink of losing this critical assistance in the middle of unprecedented public health and economic crisis," Mr Hoyer said.

The negotiation process on a fifth coronavirus package has indeed suffered from internal divisions among Republicans that have emerged since the Senate returned this week.

Several Senate Republicans who spoke with reporters after their caucus lunch on Tuesday said the meeting exposed lingering concerns among deficit hawks over how much the federal government has already spent on the Covid-19 response and how much more it can afford to do.

Senator Rand Paul, always keen on reducing federal spending, compared the GOP caucus lunch to a meeting of "Bernie bros" or the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

While Mr McConnell has indicated he will unveil the Senate GOP's bill later this week, despite expected opposition from some quarters of the party, lawmakers have no illusions that they can reach a final agreement before Congress' scheduled August recess.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed his frustration on Wednesday at the snailish pace of negotiations since lawmakers' return to the Hill.

"It’s the middle of the week and the Republican Party is so disorganized, chaotic, and unprepared that they can barely cobble together a partisan bill in their own conference," he said in his opening remarks on the Senate floor on Wednesday.