That pressure was contained this week when Biden, while praising how his $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending package expanded federal unemployment insurance by $300 a week until Sept. 6, committed to helping states check into alleged abuses of the program.
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Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse was quick to claim Biden was "all over the place on unemployment insurance" as he faces criticism that the benefits are disincentivizing people from seeking work.
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"He wants to go after folks who are gaming the system, but he’s denying the reality that his policies are making the situation worse so he's trying to make struggling businesses the boogeymen," Sasse said in a statement.
The potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate continued, "Instead of making unemployment pay more than work, we ought to convert the emergency unemployment payments into signing bonuses."
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Republican leaders around the country have sounded similar interests about the generosity of the unemployment benefits, especially after some Democrats suggested businesses simply raise fees. The governors of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Montana have all signaled their intention to roll back the benefits.
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For University of Central Florida politics professor Aubrey Jewett, the extra unemployment support has been important, and it is common, but the public and economy were now transitioning to a new phase of the pandemic.
"It's not surprising that [Biden]'s struggling to explain the policy, and to defend the policy, and also to perhaps figure out exactly what is the best thing to do right now," he said, specifically given each state's different predicaments.
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"A lot of this is about expectations," he continued, referring to whether the April jobs report was a blip or the start of a trend. "If the next jobs report is soft, Democrats, progressives, Joe Biden himself, will probably say look, 'This is one more reason why we need to move forward with my infrastructure and jobs plan because clearly, the country needs more help.'"
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Yet, Charles Bierbauer, a veteran reporter and the University of South Carolina's College of Information and Communications dean emeritus, battled Republicans who were too “all over the place” about the unemployment benefits.
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"South Carolina, under [Gov. Henry] McMaster and his predecessor, Nikki Haley, also rejected expanding Medicaid. So, it follows a pattern of turning down federal assistance, even though the benefits may help South Carolinians," he said, noting McMaster was a Trump ally.
"Let’s also not forget that the enhanced unemployment benefit was initiated during the Trump administration," he went on. "Was it a good idea then and a bad idea now?"
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