WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st July, 2020) The passage of a new $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill is being held up by disagreements on whether weekly benefits for the unemployed should remain at $600 per person or be cut to a third as the Trump administration hopes, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.
"The $600 is essential to the lives of these families. That's where we are in the negotiations," Pelosi told a news conference.
The weekly unemployment benefit of $600 expires at the end of Friday. Unless it is extended, some 17 million Americans rendered jobless since March because of measures imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus will be left without government assistance.
Pelosi said the Republicans' plan is predicated on lower benefits for working families at a time when an increasing number of Americans seeks help.
"More people are applying for unemployment insurance. For 19 straight weeks, over a million people have been applying for benefits. Let's recognize that these people need the $600," Pelosi said.
The Trump administration has said it hopes to cut the weekly benefit to $200, saying the benefits received so far are discouraging many from returning to work, even with businesses having reopened from previously imposed lockdowns.
Earlier on Friday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the Trump administration was willing to agree to a temporary extension of the $600 per week benefit while further negotiations continue.
Congress has rolled out three of the so-called Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) bills so far, disbursing some $3.3 trillion in personal aid to qualifying US citizens, paycheck protection for workers, and loans and grants to businesses.
