Labor Department Returns $4.4 Billion in Covid Funds to Treasury

The US Labor Department returned over $4.4 billion in unspent Covid unemployment insurance funds to the Treasury, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced.

“The pandemic is long behind us—it’s the federal government’s responsibility to return unusable Covid-era funding to the American people and ensure these dollars are being utilized effectively,” said Chavez-DeRemer in a statement.

The funding, provided under the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and later extended under the American Rescue Plan Act provided funding to allow states to immediately pay out benefits to laid off workers, instead of requiring claimants to wait one week for the ...