Coronavirus: Trump administration considers $450-a-week bonus to encourage unemployed to go back to work

This check would replace the $600 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit

The Trump administration and Republicans are considering a $450-a-week bonus to lure unemployed people back to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Another stimulus package is up for debate in the Senate after the Democratic-led House passed a $3tn relief bill that would extend unemployment benefits until January.

Parts of that relief package could pass in the Senate, but Republicans and Democrats will need to collaborate as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made it very clear some unemployment benefits would not continue on.

Republicans want to replace the $600 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit that is set to expire 31 July, which Democrats want to extend. The concern among Republicans is that it discourages people to seek out another job.

“This will not be in the next bill,” Mr McConnell said last week about the expanded unemployment program on a call with House Republicans, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said on Fox News on Tuesday the administration and Republicans were looking to instead give a $450 bonus to former unemployed workers on their checks once they got a job.

“It’s something we’re looking at very carefully,” Mr Kudlow said.

The back-to-work bonus idea was first proposed by Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio last week.

“The trouble with the $600 plus-up, and maybe we needed it in that emergency period, but frankly it’s a major disincentive to go back to work and we don’t want that,” Mr Kudlow added, “We want people to go back to work.”

“I frankly do not believe the $600 plus-up will survive the next round of talks, but I think we’ll have substitutes to deal with that issue.”

Since mid-March, about 39 million people have filed for unemployment as businesses were forced to shut down during the pandemic. About 25 per cent of Americans are out of work, which forced Congress‘ hand to increase unemployment benefits.

But now all states are in phases of reopening.

The Senate remains deadlocked on what the next coronavirus relief package could look like for America. Republicans want a more modest package to incentivise work, but Democrats are pushing for more economic relief for Americans on the belief it could take longer for the economy to return to pre-Covid-19 numbers.