Trump's unemployment extension may give jobless Americans only 3 weeks of extra benefits

• Trump's unemployment extension may only guarantee an extra three weeks of additional $300 benefits for jobless Americans, according to FEMA guidance released Monday.
• The agency also estimated it could take an "average" of three weeks from Trump issuing the memo for the first federal payments to start flowing — meaning they could start arriving for people on Aug. 29.
• Seven states were approved to move ahead with the "Lost Wages Assistance" program, including Arizona, Colorado, and Missouri.

President Donald Trump's unemployment extension for out-of-work Americans may provide only three weeks of additional benefits, according to new federal guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Governors and state officials across the country are rushing to implement the executive order to provide extra jobless aid for the unemployed. Under the president's recent memorandum, the federal government kicks in $300 in weekly payments to augment state unemployment benefits.

Yet the memo sparked a wave of confusion and criticism from states warning of lengthy delays getting government aid out since they are designing a parallel benefit program from scratch.

The guidance from FEMA says enough federal aid will be distributed to cover around three weeks of supplemental payments. It will be drawn from a disaster relief fund that the agency oversees, for around $44 billion in government funding, the Trump administration said

FEMA says it's estimating it will take an "average" of three weeks from when Trump signed the executive order for initial payments to start flowing — which could place the arrival of the aid at the end of the month.

Nearly 30 million Americans were receiving unemployment aid when the federal $600 enhanced payments expired at the end of July due to fierce disagreements between Republicans and Democrats on unemployment aid.

The GOP sought to cut the benefit, arguing it disincentivized work. Democrats said the payments are critical to boosting the economy.

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Trump's measure on unemployment had stated it would provide $400 in additional benefits. But top administration officials later reduced the amount to $300 after many cash-strapped states said they couldn't afford to shoulder 25% of the program's cost as had been mandated.

Several states were approved to implement the program, FEMA said. They include Arizona, Louisiana, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and Utah.

Others, such as Florida and North Carolina, have signaled they will try to get the program up and running, The Washington Post reported.

Some experts project the program could last only five weeks, given the limited pot of money. And a provision mandating jobless people must be collecting at least $100 in weekly benefits could leave out up to 1.5 million part-time and gig workers.

The president's executive orders prompted significant criticism from Democrats, who said the steps were too meager to address the full scale of the coronavirus crisis.

"Trump's executive orders on the economy are bad policy and do not begin to approach what is needed to shore up a slowing recovery and avert economic collapse," Democratic Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement last week.