One Month Into Emergency Unemployment Cutoff: Economic pain builds for workers and families, economy teetering on brink

September 1, 2020

Economists call impact of government support cutoff “devastating,” and Trump’s weak executive orders “too little, too late”

Washington, DC –  Today, Groundwork Collaborative released the following statement and background calling on Congress to move quickly to reinstate emergency unemployment benefits following a full month of gridlock and delay that has hurt workers, families, and the overall economy. 

“Not only is it unconscionable that the Trump administration cut the incomes of 30 million unemployed workers during a pandemic and eliminated key lifelines and support for families across the country, but over the past month we’ve seen the impact of his inaction ripple through the already-fragile economy and make this crisis so much worse than it needed to be,” said Michael Linden, Executive Director of Groundwork Collaborative. 

“One month into this fiasco Congress and the Trump administration face a clear choice: Restore the incomes of 30 million workers and protect them, their families, and the economy – or accept the blame for an economic recession that is threatening to spiral into a completely avoidable full-blown depression.”

Background: One month into a completely unnecessary crisis

How we got here: Trump and his allies delayed acting for months and then pushed the country over the cliff. 

A number of provisions were included in the CARES Act under the assumption that the United States would adequately address the COVID-19 public health crisis in time to taper off these relief measures by mid-summer. That turned out to be wrong. The pandemic ended up getting far worse – but Congress still hasn’t adjusted to continue their response. Here’s what happened: 

Trump and his allies are wrong: The economic pain is real and it’s only going to get worse

Last Thursday we learned that another 1.4 million workers filed for unemployment in Trump’s economy – bringing the total to nearly 60 million over the last 23 weeks – as Trump and his allies continue blocking additional support for workers and families.

Here is some additional background from recent coverage. 

The impact on people and families:

The impact on the economy:

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