New: Republican Senators Bragging About An Unemployment Boost They Voted Against [HuffPost]

After Voting Against Expanded Unemployment Insurance For The Millions Laid Off Due To Coronavirus, GOP Senators Now Touting Benefits Democrats Secured Back Home

A new report from HuffPost reveals Republican senators are taking credit for an additional $600 per week in unemployment insurance for laid-off workers in the latest coronavirus aid package despite the fact that nearly all of them voted to block the increased aid. Republican incumbents including Senators Steve Daines, Martha McSally, and John Cornyn have all trumpeted the increased relief to their constituents that — if they had their way — wouldn’t exist. 

“The truth is Republicans voted to limit unemployment insurance even as millions of Americans were filing for those benefits and instead supported a plan that would have allowed corporations to use federal aid money on CEO bonuses and stock buybacks,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “Voters won’t be fooled by these Republicans’ dishonest attempts to paper over their record of prioritizing wealthy corporations over working families.”

HuffPost: Republicans Are Bragging About An Unemployment Boost They Voted Against

By Arthur Delaney and Igor Bobic

Key Points:

• A core part of lawmakers’ job is to make sure their constituents have access to government programs that are designed to help them.

• To that end, many members of Congress are pointing to expanded unemployment benefits they authorized last week as part of a massive coronavirus pandemic response bill, which will boost weekly benefits by $600. 

• Among the lawmakers touting the additional $600: Senate Republicans who voted against it.

• “This package that we passed will provide $600 a week on top of the Montana benefit if you’re unemployed,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told a local TV station the day after the bill passed. “That’s very significant. It more than doubles what the state of Montana pays. That’s taking care of those Montanans who’ve lost their jobs.”

• But Daines, like most of his other GOP colleagues, supported an amendment to the bill offered by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) that would have capped unemployment benefits and denied some people the extra $600. The Senate rejected the amendment before ultimately passing the bill last week.

• [Sasse’s] amendment, which all but two Senate Republicans voted for, would have directed state unemployment agencies not to give claimants the full $600 per week if it would exceed their prior wage when combined with their regular benefit allotment. 

• Nevertheless, Sasse, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) decided to make a stink about the increased benefits on the Senate floor. Sasse’s amendment, targeting the $260 billion unemployment portion of the $2 trillion bill, was the only amendment debated on the floor. The debate was purely symbolic as the amendment stood no chance of clearing the 60 vote threshold needed for adoption. 

• The last-minute push to lower unemployment benefits didn’t stop some GOP senators from highlighting the ultimate provisions in the bill after its passage, however.

• “It also expands unemployment insurance eligibility, and provides an extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits. When it comes to covering bills and navigating this uncertainly, that money is a lifeline,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote in a Dallas Morning News op-ed.

• In a press release titled “McSally Secures COVID-19 Relief for Arizona Families, Small Businesses,” Sen. Marthy McSally (R-Ariz.) noted that the average unemployment benefit in Arizona “will increase to $850 per week,” up from $240 per week.

Read the full story here.

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