Are unemployment benefits the new welfare? Short-term assistance becoming long-term 'trap,' report warns

Expanded federal unemployment benefits, put in place as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, are on course to become another long-term "welfare trap," a government fiscal watchdog group warns in a new report. 

Under emergency response legislation, the federal government expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits, extended the number of weeks, and gave bonuses to state unemployment benefits. The expansion will sunset in September, but congressional Democrats have pressed President Biden for an extension. The benefits have been extended before. 

"It has started to look more like welfare and more like another piece of the welfare package. It’s...