Millions fear eviction, poverty as US jobless benefits expire

A woman demonstrates during a protest for essential workers in California. File pic/AFP

Unemployment benefits for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet lapsed overnight as President Donald Trump refused to sign an end-of-year COVID-19 relief and spending bill that had been considered a done deal before his objections.

The fate of the bipartisan package remained in limbo on Sunday as Trump continued to demand larger COVID-19 relief checks and complained about "pork" spending. Without the widespread funding provided by the massive measure, a government shutdown would occur when money runs out at 12.01 am on Tuesday.

"It's a chess game and we are pawns," said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stood to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit unless Trump signed the package into law or succeeded in his improbable quest for changes.

Trump assailed the bill's plan to provide $600 COVID checks to most Americans - insisting it should be $2,000. House Republicans swiftly rejected that idea. But Trump has not been swayed in spite of the nation being in the grip of a pandemic.

"I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill," Trump tweeted while on holiday. "Also, stop the billions of dollars in 'pork.'" President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill immediately as the Saturday midnight deadline neared.