AOC says she can't let federal pandemic unemployment benefits expire 'without at least trying' a new bill

published 15 September 2021

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) on Wednesday introduced a bill to extend enhanced coronavirus pandemic unemployment benefits until Feb. 1, 2022. If the bill is passed, the benefits, which expired earlier this month, would be retroactive to Sept. 6.

It's unlikely Ocasio-Cortez will have success since the political will simply doesn't appear to be there. President Biden said it was "appropriate" for the benefits to end in September, as Congress planned, and even when the White House offered states with high jobless rates the option to repurpose federal relief money to extend the aid, none of them did. Meanwhile, other profile congressional Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have mostly remained quiet on the issue, The Washington Post's Jeff Stein noted.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox