The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) expired on July 31, 2020, resulting in millions of Americans across the nation watching their $600 weekly supplement drop. In question was whether Congress would extend the $600 weekly federal supplement or reduce the amount Americans received. President Trump signed an executive memorandum to extend unemployment benefits, but at a reduced rate of $400 a week.
The weekly supplemental $400 to Americans unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic stands as the halfway point Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders met at. Democratic leaders advocated the extension of the $600 weekly unemployment payments into 2021; Republican leaders, on the other hand, proposed a deduced rate of $200 weekly unemployment payments that, starting in October, “would be replaced with a payment that, when combined with the state unemployment payment, would be intended to replace about 70 percent of the recipient’s estimated lost wages” (Barrett, 2020).
The executive memorandum President Trump signed thus calls for a $400 weekly supplemental payment consisting of a $300 federal contribution. The remaining $100 would be paid by the states in which the unemployed reside. President Trump announced at a press conference that the extended relief payments would last until the end of 2020.
The duration of the program, however, highly depends on how long unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic remains. Executive action holds that the federal relief program for unemployment is available for eligible unemployed Americans:
- until Sunday, December 6, 2020, or
- until the Department of Homeland Security’s Disaster Relief Fund balance drops to $25 billion
CIMA Law Group Blog 