Asked about the Senate Democrats’ unemployment insurance agreement, a senior administration official said the administration is “definitely good with it,” and pointed out making the first $10,200 in benefits no longer being taxable was “something the administration had been trying to figure out how to address.”
While Senate Democrats and staff have been the lead on all of the late negotiations, White House legislative and policy officials have been in touch in real time, the official said, and have given their sign off to every agreement up to this point, the official said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has also reacted on Twitter, saying:
“The President believes it is critical to extend expanded unemployment benefits through the end of September to help Americans who are struggling, as the President proposed in the American Rescue Plan. The compromise amendment achieves that while helping to address the surprise tax bills that many are facing by eliminating the first $10,200 of UI benefits from taxation for 2020. Combined, this amendment would provide more relief to the unemployed than the current legislation.”
See her tweet:
Remember: Earlier today in a last-minute change, Senate Democrats said they reached an agreement to extend unemployment benefits through September, but change the benefits to $300 a week instead of $400 a week.
The amendment will be introduced by Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware.
The agreement also creates new tax benefits for people who received Unemployment Insurance (UI) by making the first $10,200 in those benefits not taxable. The intent is to make sure people who received UI are not hit with taxes on the benefit, which could come as a surprise.
You can read more about that here.