As unemployment benefits are set to expire tonight for millions of Americans, DNC War Room senior spokesperson and advisor Lily Adams released the following statement: 

“Trump and Republicans have pulled the rug out from under millions of working families — costing unemployed Americans $600 in income every week and demanding unemployment benefits be cut by as much as half. We have known about this deadline for months, and more than a million additional Americans are filing initial claims for unemployment each week, but Trump and Republicans are forcing families to make impossible decisions about whether to pay for food, rent, or medical treatment. It’s always the same with Trump — when it’s big corporations and the top 1%, he’s eager to help. But when it’s working families, he’s nowhere to be found.”

Enhanced unemployment benefits officially expire tonight, but most unemployed Americans already received their final check last weekend because of Republicans’ delays.

NBC News: “The Republican-led Senate adjourned Thursday for a long weekend with no action on COVID-19 relief, all but ensuring that a $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit would expire Friday.”

Associated Press: “The $600 weekly bonus is technically set to expire July 31, but the cutoff is effectively [July 25] owing to how states process payments.”

Tens of millions of out-of-work Americans will lose an average of half their income.

CBS News: “Over 30 million Americans set to lose enhanced unemployment benefits”

New York Times: “More than 20 million Americans could soon see their weekly income fall by half or more at a time when the unemployment rate remains higher than in any period since World War II.”

CNBC: “Millions of Americans will fall off an ‘income cliff’ when extra $600 in unemployment benefits ends”

This is Trump and the GOP’s fault. They delayed acting for months after House Democrats passed the Heroes Act.

Nexstar: “House Democrats are pushing the Senate to take up the Heroes Act after it was passed two months ago.”

Washington Post: “After delaying discussions for weeks, the White House is now trying to rush talks in part because more than 20 million Americans are slated to receive their final expanded unemployment check at the end of this week before the program expires.”

Now, Trump and Republicans are pushing a bill that slashes workers’ income by more than 40%.

CNBC: “GOP relief plan slashes unemployment benefits by 43% for average worker”

Business Insider: “Trump suggested Republicans could reduce extra unemployment benefits to an estimated $175 a week. That would cause millions of jobless Americans to lose up to half their income.”

Republicans are pushing to cut workers’ income while the country faces a historic recession, GDP collapsed by an unprecedented 32.9%, and unemployment claims rise.

NPR: “3 Months Of Hell: U.S. Economy Drops 32.9% In Worst GDP Report Ever”

New York Times: “It was the 19th straight week that the tally exceeded one million, an unheard-of figure before the coronavirus pandemic. And it was the second weekly increase in a row after nearly four months of declines, a sign of how the rebound in cases has undercut the economy’s nascent recovery.”