'Get a Job': GOP Senator Ted Cruz Gives His Recipe for Life After US Unemployment Benefits Expire

Many of the benefits that had been extended by the Democrats' exorbitantly generous relief bill have come to an end. Although many companies report a lack of working hands, millions of Americans remain dependent on these benefits.

US Republican Senator Ted Cruz proposed his own resolution to expiring state and federal unemployment benefits, suggesting that people affected by it should simply find a job. In his Twitter response to an AP article giving a rundown of possible options for benefit-seekers, Cruz reminded fellow Americans of "millions" of open vacancies in US businesses and how desperately understaffed some American companies are.

Um, get a job?

There are millions of vacancies, and small businesses across the Nation are desperate for workers. https://t.co/0ejI45Ja6I

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 7, 2021

Several jobless benefits programmes expired on 6 September in the US, leaving 8.9 million Americans with few options. Specifically, self-employed and gig workers, as well as those unemployed for over six months, can no longer count on additional financial help from the government.

In addition to that, a $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit, introduced by the Biden administration, will also end in all states as none will fund the assistance from their own pockets. Some states wrapped up some of the benefit programmes early as businesses complained about a lack of workers, particularly at the level of minimum wage. However, this step proved to give only a minor effect on increasing employment levels.

The few remaining programmes still available in the US are food stamp assistance, delayed federal student loan repayments and continuing eviction moratoriums that several Democrat-controlled states upheld despite potentially violating a US Supreme Court ruling ending the housing protections. Those who have been unemployed for less than six months will continue to get benefits, but they are likely to be slashed.

At the same time, the US saw the lowest post-lockdown level of unemployment benefits applications in the last week of August, according to the available data. The level dropped to 340,000 applications adjusted for the season.