Enhanced unemployment benefits are set to expire as congressional…

Enhanced unemployment benefits are set to expire as congressional negotiators are deadlocked over a coronavirus relief deal.
The additional $600 a week in unemployment insurance that Congress provided in late March will sunset on Friday at midnight, dealing a significant financial blow to millions of jobless Americans amid a weakening labor market.
Lawmakers had hoped the deadline, which was known for months, would result in the kind of eleventh-hour agreement that was once commonplace in Washington. But in a sign of how far apart negotiators are, the Senate left town for the week on Thursday, ensuring Congress will careen over the looming unemployment cliff.
“I think this is something that we saw the deadline coming and knew that we needed to take action. We haven’t been able to reach consensus and that’s unfortunate, but we need to respond and people expect us to,” said Sen. Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiOvernight Energy: Official says protesters not cleared from Lafayette Square for Trump | Trump administration blasts banks refusing to fund Arctic drilling | 2019 coal production hit lowest level since 1978Sinking Trump seeks to squash GOP dissentOvernight Defense: House passes defense bill that Trump threatened to veto | Esper voices concerns about officers wearing military garbMORE (R-Alaska).
The consequences of inaction are high: After trending downward since March, unemployment claims rose for the second week in a row, according to Labor Department data released Thursday morning. Roughly 30 million Americans have filed jobless claims since the pandemic began.
Underscoring the economic damage enacted by the coronavirus, U.S. gross domestic product contracted by a 32.9 percent annual pace in the second quarter, news that sent the stock market tumbling Thursday. With coronavirus cases climbing across the country, economists warn that the U.S. isnt out of fiscal danger.
Sen. Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenNew York police confirm arrest of protester in unmarked vanThe US has more to gain from WTO reform than just punishing ChinaGOP’s relief package hits wall in talks with Schumer, PelosiMORE (Ore.), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, lamented that the economists, the people who arent political figures, told us this is a five-alarm fire.
As Congress inched closer to the Friday deadline, several GOP senators floated their own unemployment plans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellGOP lawmakers comply with Pelosi’s mask mandate for House floorHillicon Valley: Trump raises idea of delaying election, faces swift bipartisan pushback | Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google release earnings reports | Senators ask Justice Department to investigate TikTok, ZoomTrump tests GOP loyalty with election tweet and stimulus strategyMORE (R-Ky.) appeared to open the door to getting a smaller deal and President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump campaign cancels ad buys to review messaging strategy: reportNunes declines to answer if he received information from Ukraine lawmaker meant to damage BidenPoll: Plurality of ‘Gen Z’ voters say they see more political ads from Trump than BidenMORE told Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven Terner MnuchinDemocrats reject short-term deal ahead of unemployment deadlineTrump tests GOP loyalty with election tweet and stimulus strategyShaheen, Chabot call for action on new round of PPP loansMORE and White House chief of staff Mark MeadowsMark Randall MeadowsDemocrats reject short-term deal ahead of unemployment deadlineTrump tests GOP loyalty with election tweet and stimulus strategySenate rejects dueling coronavirus bills as unemployment cliff loomsMORE to focus on jobless benefits in their negotiations with Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiDemocrats reject short-term deal ahead of unemployment deadlineGOP lawmakers comply with Pelosi’s mask mandate for House floorTrump tests GOP loyalty with election tweet and stimulus strategyMORE (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerLincoln Project targets Senate races in Alaska, Maine, Montana with M ad buyPelosi, Schumer say GOP Senate coronavirus bill is ‘selling out working families’The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – Barr’s showdown with House DemocratsMORE (D-N.Y).
I’m anxious to see us have a bridge on unemployment insurance so that individuals will not lose their supplemental unemployment insurance while we’re working on a larger piece of legislation COVID relief legislation, said Sen. Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyTrump tests GOP loyalty with election tweet and stimulus strategyOn The Money: GDP shrinks by record amount in second quarter amid virus lockdowns | Jobless claims rise for second straight week | McConnell tees up fight on unemployment benefitsOvernight Defense: Pompeo pressed on move to pull troops from Germany | Panel abruptly scraps confirmation hearing | Trump meets family of slain soldierMORE (R-Utah). Whether that’s my proposal or others that are being floated around I do think that we need to have a temporary program that is put in place so we don’t have a gap.
But bipartisan negotiators remain at loggerheads: Democrats want to continue the $600 per week unemployment plus-up that most Republicans oppose. The administration wants to switch to a wage-based match, something Democrats and even some states say is not feasible.
Meadows and Mnuchin have met four times in as many days with Pelosi and Schumer but they are, in their own words, nowhere near a deal. The White Houses idea of doing a smaller package, which would include an extension of federal unemployment insurance, has been rejected by Democrats, and Republicans acknowledge there isnt consensus in their caucus about what would even be in a slimmed-down bill.
Meadows and Mnuchin want to get a deal with Democrats on a package that would include an evictions moratorium and extended unemployment insurance.
But Schumer, speaking to reporters after their fourth meeting on Thursday night, questioned if the administration understood the gravity of the problem. Mnuchin said the administration had proposed a short-term deal but Democrats reiterated that they werent interested. 
“The proposals we made were not received warmly, Meadows added. 
Frustrations over the missed deadline prompted lawmakers to point fingers across the aisle to assign blame for the economic pain that will impact millions of Americans.
Republicans tried to pass two unemployment bills. One from Sens. Ron JohnsonRonald (Ron) Harold JohnsonDemocrats reject short-term deal ahead of unemployment deadlineOn The Money: GDP shrinks by record amount in second quarter amid virus lockdowns | Jobless claims rise for second straight week | McConnell tees up fight on unemployment benefitsOvernight Health Care: Race for vaccine faces daunting distribution challenges | Hotspots ease, but officials say normal a long way off | Birx recommends face shields with masksMORE (R-Wis.) and Mike BraunMichael BraunDemocrats reject short-term deal ahead of unemployment deadlineOn The Money: GDP shrinks by record amount in second quarter amid virus lockdowns | Jobless claims rise for second straight week | McConnell tees up fight on unemployment benefitsOvernight Health Care: Race for vaccine faces daunting distribution challenges | Hotspots ease, but officials say normal a long way off | Birx recommends face shields with masksMORE (R-Ind.) would provide, when combined with state unemployment, a two-thirds match to an individuals previous wage, with a $500 per week cap on the federal benefit. If a state could not implement the wage-based figure, they would get a $200 per week flat federal benefit.
Sen. Martha McSallyMartha Elizabeth McSallyMcConnell tees up showdown on unemployment benefitsTrump may have power, but he still has no plan to fight the pandemic100 days out, parties fear chaotic electionMORE (R-Ariz.) tried to pass the second measure: a one-week extension of the $600 benefit, that, in a shift, Meadows said Trump would support.
But Democrats blocked both, accusing Republicans of carrying out stunts.
Even if we were to pass this measure, all the states almost every state says people would not get their unemployment for weeks and months. All because of the disunity, dysfunction of this Republican caucus, and of the leader, afraid to negotiate because he doesn’t have his people behind him, Schumer said.
Though the CARES Act from March set the expiration date for the federal benefit as July 31, the deadline effectively hit last weekend because of how several states disburse unemployment benefits.
The congressional drama comes after roughly two weeks of no measurable progress toward a bipartisan agreement on the next coronavirus relief package.
Republicans spent last week — their first week back from a two-week July 4th recess —  haggling amongst themselves, and with the White House, about what the GOP proposal should look like. The package they unveiled on Monday sparked fierce backlash from several GOP senators.
McConnell underscored the difficult dynamic facing Republicans as they hunt for leverage, when he acknowledged that a sizable portion, though not a majority, of his caucus does not want to do another bill.
About 20 of my members think that weve already done enough, he told PBS Newshour.
Schumer compared trying to negotiate with the administration like trying to nail jello to the wall.
It’s dawning on them now not a week ago, not three weeks ago, not two months ago that we’re facing a cliff on unemployment, he said.
With no deal in sight, McConnell has set up a debate for next week on the Senate floor over the unemployment benefits.
The GOP leader didnt divulge what proposal hell start the debate with, but several Senate Republicans told The Hill that they expect it to be the Johnson-Braun legislation, which has already been blocked once by Democrats and will need 60 votes to advance.
Absent a breakthrough, Republicans say the vote will at least let them get Democrats on the record after days of watching the bipartisan talks go nowhere and mounting frustration on Capitol Hill.
Our guys want to vote, they want to be able to prove theyre moving the ball down the field and the Democrats want to keep blocking, Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneMcConnell tees up showdown on unemployment benefitsThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Gohmert tests positive; safety fears escalate on Capitol HillGOP hunts for ‘Plan B’ as coronavirus talks hit wallMORE (R-S.D.) said, asked about GOP strategy. This exposes that.