GOP Plan: Workers To Get 70% Of Salary In New Unemployment Pay

Unemployed Americans have received roughly $2,400 per month as part of the emergency federal unemployment benefit related to COVID-19. It was passed early this year as mass layoffs happened in the earliest days of the pandemic across the United States. The gap on this issue has been wide between Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Republican leaders said the benefit was too generous and discouraged people from returning to work. Democrats say the payments have been a lifeline and the hardship presented by COVID-19 is not over.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is at the center of the discussions between Democrats, Republicans, and the White House. He said a key provision of the GOP plan for the next stimulus relief bill, which is due to be released tomorrow, will address the COVID-19 federal unemployment benefit. Meadows says it won't just end, but it will be drastically reduced from the $600 per week added benefit.

The original unemployment benefit actually paid people to stay home, and actually a lot of people got more money staying at home than they were going back to work, and so the president was very clear, our Republican senators have been very clear, we're not going to extend that provision, Meadows said on ABC's "This Week."

You can watch the full interview below: