Report: Biden Admin Paid $271 Million In Unemployment Checks To Millionaires In Two Years
Good news for millionaires and billionaires: They are currently eligible for unemployment benefits, whether they need it or not. That has been true since 1964 when the Department of Labor determined unemployment is for all eligible workers no matter their income level.
In 2022, The Biden Administration paid unemployment compensation to 5,773 people earning $1 million or more, with nearly $58 million going to out-of-work millionaires. It is an average of nearly $10,000 per person.
In 2021, a COVID quarantine year with extra dough baked into unemployment, 14,972 people earning $1 million or more received unemployment compensation. The Biden Administration spent nearly $214 million keeping millionaires fed, paying an average of $14,200 each.
(As the Federalist previously reported, 2021 and 2022 were also banner years for unemployment fraud, in which fraudsters including prisoners and dead people placed multiple claims.)
Combine the years and individuals earning more than $1 million annually received more than $271 million in unemployment during the first two years of the Biden Administration.
These numbers are part of a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), prepared for Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus chair. CRS looked at tax returns and counted individuals who earned over $1 million and also received unemployment.
“Our nation’s safety net shouldn’t be strained by subsidizing the lifestyles of the self-sufficient,” Ernst said in an email. “Able-bodied millionaires shouldn’t expect handouts paid for by overtaxed and overworked Americans. The freebies for free-loading fat cats are over.”
Being fired from a job can be devastating. Getting turned down for unemployment benefits even more so, especially when living paycheck-to-paycheck at $30,000 with nothing in savings. It happens. Not everyone is eligible for the unemployment safety net, which is a fraction of your pay before being separated from employment.
When income stops, it sure would be nice to have $1 million in income from another income stream. Maybe you own some rental properties, have good investments, or earned enough to save. If you only had an even $1 million, it would be just over $83,000 a month.
It is enough to afford COBRA insurance and keep your BritBox account. And now, some say it is enough to remove you from unemployment eligibility.
Ernst plans to introduce the ‘‘Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act of 2025.’’ It would prohibit federal funds from being used as unemployment compensation for an individual whose wages during their base period are equal to or exceed $1 million. The base period in most states goes back to the first four quarters of the last five completed calendar quarters.
The bill would require any millionaire who is improperly paid to pay the unemployment money back.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
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