As GOP-led states end enhanced unemployment benefits, the Biden administration struggles to find a way to get workers funding

As more than 3.7 million Americans could start seeing enhanced unemployment benefits end next month, the Labor Department is struggling to find a way to keep unemployed workers from being cut off as the clock ticks down. An official told CBS News the federal government paying the benefits to some unemployed Americans directly is "pretty much off the table."

The department is facing pressure from Democratic lawmakers and progressive groups to act as a growing number of Republican-led states have announced they will opt out of the federal program created in the wake of the pandemic.  At least 22 GOP-led states have announced this month that they will be ending enhanced unemployment benefits early. This includes the $300 a week supplemental benefits, as well as in nearly all cases the program for gig workers and self-employed individuals who do not qualify for traditional unemployment and the program for those facing long term unemployment. The state leaders claim their states have plenty of jobs and the benefits deter people from working.