REMINDER: GOP Senate Contenders Attacked Emergency Unemployment Relief While Crisis Grew

Georgia Republicans repeatedly attacked expanded unemployment insurance for weeks without trying to find solution to provide aid

ATLANTA — After GOP infighting let expanded unemployment relief expire last week, Senate Republicans are rushing to point fingers over their failure to pass even the most basic aid package.

Here’s the reality: Instead of trying to find a way to extend expanded aid for unemployed workers, Georgia Republicans spent the past few weeks slamming expanded unemployment insurance while the economy had its “worst quarter on record.” 

• Senator David Perdue previously called expanded unemployment relief “a hindrance” — even as he wrote off banks making “more than $10 billion in fees” off a small business relief program as “the cost of doing business.” 
• Senator Kelly Loeffler said that she’s “not seeing a big need to extend the federal unemployment insurance” during a recession.
• Congressman Doug Collins has said he wants to “cut back” on expanded unemployment relief “or do away with it altogether.”

When it comes to helping working Georgians who’ve lost their job due to the pandemic, the record is clear: Georgia Republicans have spent their time in Washington fighting against expanded jobless aid, rather than working to provide relief for Georgians in a crisis.

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