The passage of the budget bill included an end to the federal funding of millionaires, as unemployment insurance benefits were cut for those with at least $1 million of annual income.
President Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ budget package included an amendment that will pull the unemployment benefits paid out by the federal government to the “idle rich,” as Sen. Joni Ernest noted.
“Was up all night fighting to save taxpayers $100 million more in the OBBB and it paid off!” the Iowa Republican posted after Congress passed the budget bill.
“The Senate passed my amendment ending unemployment payments to millionaires,” Ernest, who introduced the Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act. “Small businesses and hardworking taxpayers will no longer be footing the bill for handouts to the idle rich!”
Was up all night fighting to save taxpayers $100 million more in the OBBB and it paid off!
The Senate passed my amendment ending unemployment payments to millionaires.
Small businesses and hardworking taxpayers will no longer be footing the bill for handouts to the idle rich! pic.twitter.com/IUnXwRxqXN
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) July 2, 2025
“As unlikely as it sounds, tax records show that every year several thousand tax returns report to the IRS that they had more than $1 million in income, and also collected some unemployment,” the Washington Times reported.
“The number shot up during the pandemic, with roughly 19,000 tax filers with million-dollar incomes claiming unemployment benefits in 2020. Among them were more than 900 who had incomes of $5 million or more,” the report continued. “In 2021 and 2022 the millionaires collected a combined $270 million in government assistance.”
More than a decade earlier, the late Sen. Tom Coburn attempted to do the same thing that Ernst accomplished. The Oklahoma Republican had proposed back in 2010 to block federal unemployment benefits to those with at least $1 million worth of assets.
“That went nowhere but a year later Coburn was back with an updated version that narrowed the ban to those who had million-dollar incomes in a year — likely a smaller number than those with $1 million in total assets,” the Washington Times noted. “The Senate approved his amendment on a 100-0 vote, but the bill it was attached to failed to clear the chamber. Other efforts over the years to revive the idea fizzled out — until Mr. Trump’s massive budget bill and Ms. Ernst’s amendment.”
Ernst pressed the proposal on the Senate floor as her colleagues debated and voted.
No more freebies for fat cats!
The Senate just approved my amendment to end unemployment benefits for MILLIONAIRES to save taxpayers as much as $100 million.
The idle rich shouldn’t expect handouts from overtaxed and overworked Americans. pic.twitter.com/JLTxG9ScUc
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) July 1, 2025
“Too many of the idle rich are living high off the hog, collecting government checks for not working, while at the same time earning a million dollars or more from some other side venture,” she said.
“Thousands of out-of-work millionaires were paid more than $271 million in unemployment assistance during just the first two years of the Biden Administration,” Ernst said. “In 2022, the most recent year data is available, nearly 6,000 millionaires were paid almost $58 million in jobless benefits. That’s about $10,000 each for each millionaire to not work.”
“The question is: why?” the GOP lawmaker continued.
“My amendment ends freebies for free-loading fat cats by disqualifying anyone making a million dollars or more from being eligible for unemployment income support,” she said. “We can’t afford to miss this opportunity to save as much as $100 million by passing my amendment. So, let’s show some bipartisan unity for reducing the deficit by getting millionaires back to work.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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