Fact Check: Did Trump's Delayed Spending Bill Signing Cost You a Week of Unemployment Pay?

(Photo : Al Drago/Getty Images) U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he departs on the South Lawn of the White House, on December 12, 2020 in Washington, DC.

After his initial refusal, President Donald Trump signed the $2.3 trillion spending bill on Sunday, and some Americans are worried that the delay caused an impact on unemployment pay.

The spending bill signed by Trump provides $900 billion in coronavirus relief and $1.4 trillion in other government spending. It took him about a week to sign after demanding changes to the bill.

Given this delay, unemployment pay was expected to lag behind by a week since Trump blew past the Saturday deadline to restore it.

Many flocked to Twitter to express this concern.

Former homeland security, counterterrorism and coronavirus adviser Olivia Troye also claimed there would be a week's worth of jobless benefits lost if the spending bill was not signed on time.

Related Story: Trump Signs COVID-19 Relief Bill After Initial Refusal

Several news outlets also started weighing the consequences of not having the bill signed before the deadline.

Relief Bill Comes With 10 Weeks of Unemployment Pay

Trump's COVID-19 relief bill and funding package restarted the $300 weekly unemployment payments.

According to CNET, it covers 10 weeks of unemployment benefits along with extra checks, a one-month extension of eviction moratorium and a second round of direct payments.

The news site pointed out that with the delay unemployed Americans who lost their job in the middle of the pandemic will "likely not see the $300 bonus checks for at least a week, if not more.

The date set for extension of unemployment benefits was one December 26, but that had since passed.

So states are awaiting guidelines from the U.S. Department of Labor on how they should allocate funds.

The report also noted that those 12 million people receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance will not continue getting benefits from their respective states.

There Are Ways to Prevent Loss of Unemployment Benefits

Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, told Newsweek in its fact check that there are some options to look into so people don't lose a week worth of jobless benefits.

"They're just continuing the old agreement and that agreement goes back to April so if you just change the dates on that old agreement, then potentially we're not losing a week of benefits," Evermore said.

Related Story: Fact Check: Did Members of Congress Earn $100K Each During Debates on Stimulus Checks?

A spokesperson for the Labor Department also said it does not expect eligible claimants to miss a week of benefits due to the time of the signing.

The department said states will be implementing the new provisions as quickly as possible, so it's unlikely for people to miss benefits, reported CNBC.

Ruling: Unemployment Pay Won't Be Cut Back by a Week

So far, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, California and Washington have assured claimants that Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation will not see a gap.

More states are also expected to follow.

"I totally expect that all states will end up paying this gap week," said Evermore.

Even though the spending bill was signed on Sunday night, it does not mean millions of Americans lost a week of benefits.

But it will take some time for weeks of benefits to be dispersed to people all over the country.