Schumer: Idea that $600 unemployment benefit keeps workers away from jobs 'belittles the American people'

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerPelosi, Schumer slam Trump executive orders, call for GOP to come back to negotiating table Sunday shows preview: White House, congressional Democrats unable to breach stalemate over coronavirus relief Postal Service says it lost .2 billion over three-month period MORE (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that the idea that the now-expired $600-per-week enhanced unemployment benefit disincentivizes workers from returning to jobs "belittles the American people."

"Americans want to work, but with 10, 11 percent unemployment, you can't find a job, and people shouldn't be given a pay cut," he said on ABC's "This Week."

President Trump Donald John TrumpDeWine tests negative for coronavirus a second time Several GOP lawmakers express concern over Trump executive orders Beirut aftermath poses test for US aid to frustrating ally MORE and a number of Republicans, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner MnuchinNavarro, Mnuchin clashed in front of Trump in Oval Office over TikTok: WaPo Graham says he appreciates Trump orders, but 'would much prefer a congressional agreement' Trump signs executive orders after coronavirus relief talks falter MORE, who has been a key negotiator on coronavirus relief legislation, have argued that the extra $600 benefit, while necessary at the beginning of the pandemic, had become an incentive for Americans to stay home rather than return to work.

One of the coronavirus executive orders signed by Trump on Saturday reduces the temporary benefit to an extra $400 per week, with states on the hook to pay $100 of that amount, through the end of the year.

Schumer on Sunday slammed the order as "an unworkable plan."

"Most states will take months to implement it because it's brand new. It's sort of put together with spit and paste, and many states, because they have to chip in $100 and they don't have money, won't do it," Schumer said. "To boot, it depletes the hurricane trust fund to defer this money, to pay for this money, when we're at the height of hurricane season."

Schumer echoed his previous statement in calling all four executive orders "unworkable, weak and far too narrow."

"The event at the country club is just what Trump does, a big show, but it doesn't do anything," he added.

The other three orders Trump signed at his country club in Bedminster, N.J., include payroll tax and student loan payment deferrals and aim to prevent evictions, though they do not explicitly halt them.

"As the American people look at these executive orders, they'll see they don't come close to doing the job," Schumer said Sunday.