As Economic Red Flags Pile Up, Senate Republicans Risk Further Damage If They Delay Real Pandemic Relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 793,000 more workers filed for unemployment last week, joining the over 20 million Americans looking for work in the Trump recession. The Labor Department’s report comes as a survey of small business owners found those who believe they can stay open for more than a year under current conditions plummeted to 55% — and that a staggering 275,000 more women fell from the labor force last month alone. While the need for substantial pandemic aid for struggling families, small businesses and states is undeniable and urgent, Senate Republicans launched an amendment blitz last week in hopes of watering down Biden’s American Rescue Plan that will put economy on the road to recovery. As Congress takes the next steps on the widely popular Biden plan, the nation cannot afford further obstruction and delay from Republicans in Congress especially as devastating eviction and unemployment benefit cliffs loom in March.  

“When nearly half of America’s small businesses fear closure in a year and over a quarter million women exit the workforce in a month’s time, that’s Congress cue to err on the side of more pandemic aid, not less,” said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for government watchdog Accountable.US. “Leading economists and the public agree: the bigger the relief package, the faster this crippling recession ends. Senate Republicans may think they’re scoring political points against President Biden by throwing up roadblocks to relief, but all they are doing is keeping millions of people out of work and vulnerable to hunger and homelessness.”   

Blocking Real Relief = Economic Sabotage: Analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, the Brookings Institute and others found the economy will continue to drag without another major pandemic relief package. Moody’s Analytics chief economist and former top McCain economic adviser Mark Zandi estimates the Biden rescue plan, which includes $1,400 stimulus checks, would restore pandemic job losses by the fall of next year.  

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