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Jobless Claims Soar To Over 10 Million in Two Weeks, But Where Is Senator McConnell?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Unemployment claims shattered records a second week in a row as the McConnell-led U.S. Senate continues its month-long vacation and ignores calls from Speaker Pelosi to immediately get to work on the next relief package for families in financial free fall due to the COVID-19 health crisis. The 6,648,000 million applicants for jobless benefits this week brings the two-week total to a staggering 10 million and plainly demonstrates the urgent need for Washington to take their own jobs seriously and address the mounting economic devastation from this crisis. History will judge whether the unemployment situation would have gotten so dire so fast had the President taken the threat seriously in the crucial early days of this crisis and not dismissed it as a “hoax”.  

After passing an inadequate relief bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared a recess from congressional business, just as the economic damage of COVID-19 and the Trump administration’s mismanaged response was fully coming into focus. And not even last week’s devastating jobs report was enough to convince McConnell that more needs to be done right now, claiming on Tuesday: “I think we need to wait a few days here, a few weeks, and see how things are working out.”   

In response, Derek Martin, spokesperson for Accountable.US, said: 

“Americans are hurting and they cannot afford for Senator McConnell to wait a ‘few weeks’ to see if all of this magically gets better. If the Majority Leader thinks a $1200 check and a $500 billion corporate bailout fund will make this all go away, he is completely divorced from reality. The Senate needs to return from its month-long paid vacation immediately and take action to make sure this public health crisis doesn’t become another Great Depression.”

It’s not just Senator McConnell displaying little sense of urgency when it comes to the economic security of everyday Americans. On March 27th, Vice President Pence said the Trump administration’s “entire economic team believe that all the fundamentals continue to be strong.” This weekend, House Minority Leader McCarthy outright dismissed the idea that more needs to be done now to help those in economic distress: “I’m not sure we need a fourth package.”   

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