Larry Kudlow, the White House economic adviser, said the administration opposed extending federal unemployment payments beyond July because the measure created to respond to Covid-19 was a “disincentive” to work.
“The $600 . . . is in effect a disincentive. We're paying people not to work. It's better than their salaries,” Mr Kudlow told CNN on Sunday. “That might have worked for the first couple of months [but] it will end in late July.”
Congress passed a $2.2tn package in March that provided $600 a week for jobless Americans, but the payments end in July. The Democratic-controlled House passed a $3tn stimulus that would extend the measure through the end of the year, but the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to entertain the bill, arguing that the economy is recovering.