South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday Congress would extend the additional $600 unemployment benefit provided in the coronavirus relief package past July only “over our dead bodies.”
His remarks came the day that the US passed 60,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus, by far the largest reported death toll in the world.
The senator made the remarks while appearing on an April 29 panel for AccelerateSC, the coronavirus task force created by Gov. Henry McMaster to examine ways to revitalize the state’s economy. He was joined by his fellow Republican senator from South Carolina, Tim Scott.
“I promise you over our dead bodies will this get reauthorized,” Graham said of his and Scott’s opposition to government spending on unemployment. “We’ve got to stop this. You cannot turn on the economy until you get this aberration of the law of fixed.” Scott slightly nodded his head during Graham’s threat.