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Millions of Americans will lose their unemployment benefits, in the first direct consequence of the refusal of the outgoing US president, Donald Trump, to sign the new stimulus plan approved by Congress.
Federal unemployment benefits for some 14 million Americans expired this Saturday, and if Trump doesn’t sign the bill Before midnight, those unemployed workers will stop receiving benefits at least for a week or as long as it takes to correct the situation.
This is the first repercussion of the disagreement between the White House and Congress over the new bill, which would have other consequences: If Trump does not sign the spending bill that accompanies the new stimulus plan before Monday, the funds for the Administration will be exhausted and it will enter into partial paralysis from Tuesday, unless a temporary financing measure is approved.
And, in case the stimulus package does not go into effect next Thursday, that midnight on December 31 A national moratorium prohibiting evictions will expire, putting an estimated 30 million Americans at risk of homelessness in the new year.
Trump has refused to sign the bill passed by both houses of Congress on Monday unless several changes are passed, from an increase in direct payments to Americans to a reduction in foreign aid.
THE BENEFITS THAT EXPIRE
The unemployment benefits that expire this Saturday were established at the beginning of the pandemic and are structured in two programs: one of help freelancers and another designed to provide additional payments to those unable to receive benefits through traditional resources for the unemployed.
Legislation passed by Congress not only revamped those programs, but also provided for extra payments of $ 300 a week through March 14 for workers unemployed or laid off during the pandemic.
That amount would be in addition to the benefits that the unemployed can receive through existing programs in their state of residence, which cover 90 percent of the country’s workers and which did not expire this Saturday, unlike federal programs.
