--- title: Unemployment-Benefits Extension Passed by Senate description: President Obama praised passage of the bill, which extends long-term unemployment benefits for five months canonical: https://time.com/52892/unemployment-benefits-senate-passes-extension/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-07T23:16:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:11:06.980Z article:section: Politics og:title: Unemployment-Benefits Extension Passed by Senate og:description: President Obama praised passage of the bill, which extends long-term unemployment benefits for five months og:url: https://time.com/52892/unemployment-benefits-senate-passes-extension/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Unemployment-Benefits Extension Passed by Senate twitter:description: President Obama praised passage of the bill, which extends long-term unemployment benefits for five months twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 7, 2014 11:16 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 7, 2014 11:16 PM CUT The Senate approved a bill [extending](https://twitter.com/SenateDems/status/453296186720411649/photo/1 "undefined") long-term unemployment benefits for five months. Six Republicans joined Senate Democrats in extending unemployment insurance with a vote of 59-38\. The measure is expected to be dead on arrival in the House. The bill has faced trouble since the bipartisan deal was struck in [mid-March](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/senate-unemployment-benefits-deal-104644.html "undefined"), after Republican attempts to [filibuster](http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/unemployment-extension-deal-falls-apart-final-vote-monday/ "undefined") had failed. In a speech on the Senate floor on [Monday](http://www.reid.senate.gov/press%5Freleases/2014-07-04-reid-remarks-on-senate-republicans-ongoing-defense-of-the-koch-brothers#.U0MoFD46Up8 "undefined"), Senate majority leader Harry Reid blamed billionaire brothers and political contributors Charles and David Koch for Republicans’ unwillingness to extend unemployment insurance. “Americans need a fair shot at getting back on their feet and finding work, but Koch-backed groups are actively opposing the extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed,” said Reid, a Nevada Democrat, before calling Republicans who “bear the logo of the Koch brothers” to announce their affiliation on the floor of the Senate. President Barack Obama praised the Senate’s passage of the bill in a statement released on Monday and urged Washington to “put politics aside and help these hardworking, responsible Americans make ends meet and support their families as they look for a job.” He added, “Each week Congress fails to act on this crucial issue, roughly 70,000 long-term-unemployed Americans lose their vital economic lifeline. I urge House Republicans to stop blocking a bipartisan compromise that would stem this tide, take up the bill without delay and send it to my desk.” But the future of the bill looks bleak given Speaker of the House John Boehner’s reticence to back it. He will only take up the bill if it will spur job growth. As Boehner spokesman Michael Steel [noted](http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/unemployment-extension-to-pass-senate-today/?dcz= "undefined"), “As the Speaker said months ago, we are willing to look at extending emergency unemployment insurance as long as it includes provisions to help create more private-sector jobs — but, last week, Senate Democratic leaders ruled out adding any jobs measures at all.” He added, “The American people are still asking, ‘Where are the jobs?’ and House Republicans are focused on our jobs agenda for families and small businesses.” \[[_Roll Call_](http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/unemployment-extension-to-pass-senate-today/?dcz= "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/52892/unemployment-benefits-senate-passes-extension/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/52892/unemployment-benefits-senate-passes-extension/"},"headline":"Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension","datePublished":"2014-04-07T23:16:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:11:06.980Z","description":"President Obama has praised the bill that extends long-term unemployment benefits for five months, but its future in the House looks bleak","url":"https://time.com/52892/unemployment-benefits-senate-passes-extension/","keywords":["Congress","Unemployment"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/52892/unemployment-benefits-senate-passes-extension/","name":"Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension"}}]}] ```