ICYMI: Who Are the Millionaires Collecting Unemployment? IRS Letter to Ernst Reveals the Answer

WASHINGTON – In a May letter to U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the IRS revealed that 10,100 million-dollar earners collected nearly $97.4 million in unemployment benefits in 2024 alone. The top occupations among the jobless millionaires included engineers, software engineers, financial professionals, lawyers, executive managers, doctors, and consultants, concentrated in California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington. On Monday, The Washington Times reported the IRS’s data, released in response to an Ernst inquiry. Read the story here . In a companion op-ed, Ernst called out the "freebies for freeloading fat cats": "In 2024 alone, 10,100 million-dollar earners received nearly $97.4 million in unemployment compensation. That amounts to each being paid $9,650, roughly the cost of a new Rolex watch. Coincidentally, it is also the amount spent on healthcare by a typical Iowan over the course of a year." "From the fields in Iowa to the battlefields in Iraq, I have worked my entire life. Unlike most of my colleagues in the Senate, I am not a millionaire. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck." "Because unemployment programs are funded primarily by taxing employers, this federal mandate is effectively a reverse Robin Hood tax that takes from struggling small businesses to give to the idle rich and self-sufficient." "My message to the affluent finance bros being cut off from Uncle Sam's unemployment trust fund is simple: If you are fortunate enough to make $1 million or more per year without having to work, then you should be counting your blessings — not collecting jobless benefits." Read the full op-ed here . Background: Ernst has led the fight to end jobless payments to millionaires since 2020. Last year, the Senate unanimously passed her Ending Unemployment Payments to Jobless Millionaires Act as an amendment to the One Big Beautiful Bill, which President Trump signed into law. The law is now in effect, barring anyone earning $1 million or more from collecting unemployment benefits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could save as much as $100 million over the next decade. ###